| The law as it presently exists:
The process for electing candidates to federal, state and local offices involves both a primary and a general election. The primary, which is conducted in September, plays a major role in determining which candidates appear on the ballot for the following general election. The general election takes place in November, and is the voters’ opportunity to select which of the candidates who appear on the general election ballot (or a write-in) should be elected to office.
The current system, described below, applies to “partisan” offices, which are offices to which candidates are elected using a party affiliation. They include United States Senator, members of Congress, most statewide elected offices (Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, Attorney General, Commissioner of Public Lands, and Insurance Commissioner), the state legislature, and most county offices. “Nonpartisan” offices are elected without reference to political party, and include judges (at all levels), the Superintendent of Public Instruction, offices of cities and special districts, and county offices where provided by local charter. Elections for nonpartisan offices are conducted differently from the system described below, and are not affected by the proposed initiative. Elections for President and Vice President of the United States are also not affected by the proposed initiative.
The way in which primaries are currently conducted is the product of longstanding Washington law, a recent lawsuit, and new 2004 legislation. Before it was declared unconstitutional by the courts in 2003, Washington used a system that was commonly known as the “blanket primary.” Under that system, all candidates for a particular partisan office appeared together on the primary ballot, and a voter could vote for a candidate of one party for one office and a candidate of another party for a different office. The top vote getter of each major political party (currently meaning the Republicans, Democrats, and Libertarians) then advanced to the general election. Minor party and independent candidates could also advance to the general election if they received at least 1% of the votes for that office. The general election ballot, therefore, included the top candidate of each major party and some minor party or independent candidates as well.
In late 2003, a federal court ruled that the blanket primary was unconstitutional. All appeals in that case have been exhausted and the result is final. This means that a court order prohibits Washington from continuing to use the blanket primary system used in the past.
In response to this court decision, a new law was enacted in 2004 establishing a different way of conducting primaries for partisan offices. This new system applied for the first time at the September 2004 primary. Under the new system, separate primary contests are conducted for each major political party. In order to vote for partisan offices, a voter selects a primary ballot of a particular political party. Voters do not register by party and no record is made of the voters’ choice. In the primary, the voter is limited to choosing among the candidates of the party whose ballot he or she selects, and may not vote for candidates affiliated with any other party. Nonpartisan offices and ballot measures appear separately, and a voter may cast votes for those offices and measures regardless of whether the voter cast votes for partisan offices.
The system adopted for use beginning in 2004 does not change the way voters participate in the general election conducted in November of each year. The general election ballot includes the candidate of each major political party who received the most votes at the primary, as well as any minor party or independent candidates who qualify through a convention and petition process. Voters are not limited to a single party at the general election. At the general election voters may choose among candidates of each major political party, as well as any minor party or independent candidates who qualify.
The effect of the proposed measure, if it becomes law:
This measure would change the system used for conducting primaries and general elections for partisan offices. The initiative would replace the system of separate primaries for each party, as adopted and used for the first time in 2004, with a system in which all candidates for each partisan office would appear together on the primary ballot. Candidates would be permitted to express a party preference or declare themselves independents, and their preference or status would appear on the ballot. The primary ballot would include all candidates filing for the office, including both major party and minor party candidates and independents. Voters would be permitted to vote for any candidate for any office, and would not be limited to a single party.
The general election ballot would be limited to the two candidates who receive the most votes for each office at the primary, whether they are of the same or different political preference. The measure would replace existing provisions that candidates of each major political party, as well as any minor party or independent candidates who qualify, appear on the general election ballot. This measure would change the way that candidates qualify to appear on the general election ballot, but would not otherwise change the way general elections are conducted. This measure would not change the way that primaries or general elections are conducted for nonpartisan offices.
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