WATERTOWN, N.Y. --  Certainly most of the men and women who've run for either city council or the mayor's seat in the city of Watertown are either Republican, Democratic or a member of a third party. But when voters go to the poll, they wouldn't know it.

"It's totally unique to the City of Watertown here in Jefferson County. There are no parties. You don't vote on a Democratic line or a Republican line. It's just basically names on a sheet and they're all on the same line,"  Jefferson County Republican Board of Elections Commissioner Jude Seymour said.

Watertown's non-partisan government has been this way for nearly 100 years. It used to be party-based aldermen, but the Watertown Daily Times took up a national push to get rid of party affiliation.

"During that period, the [1920s], there was a terrible controversy, a great political controversy and debate in Watertown over the form of government," Watertown Daily Times Board Chair John Johnson Jr. said in a 2014 interview.

The Times battled another paper in the city that supported parties, and won.

It's believed that there's only one other community in the state that still uses non-partisan government and as primaries inch closer, they're less than two weeks away, it gives city voters a unique opportunity.

"It's usually based on what party is holding that primary. In the city of Watertown, being a non-partisan race, it's anyone that's registered. Any registered voter can go and vote," Jefferson County Democratic Board of Elections Commissioner Babette Hall said.

This year they'll have options. Three men are battling to be mayor. The two with the highest vote total will move to November.

There are six candidates for city council.  Four of them will move on, but only two can win in the general.

So here in Watertown, maybe more than anywhere, it's key for voters to know every candidate.

"It doesn't matter if you're Democrat or Republican. In fact, I challenge people to know who the mayoral candidates, whether they're Democrat or Republican or the council candidates.  It's just not a factor so people can go based on the issues they're presenting and their platform," Seymour said.

To help people who may be new or not know, the Board of Elections goes hard each cycle to get the word out.

The primary has moved to Thursday, September 10, due to Rosh Hashanah.