Voters will stick to parties in 2005 primary

OLYMPIA – While it’s likely the state will appeal last week’s court ruling striking down the “top two” primary system, Secretary of State Sam Reed will not ask a judge to stay the decision, meaning that voters in this year’s primary will vote along party lines.

“It’s much more important that the 2005 primary be executed properly and that we don’t have any mistakes,” Reed said at a news conference in his office. “We absolutely need to know right now what kind of primary we’re going to have here in the state of Washington.”

Last year, voters passed Initiative 872 with 60 percent of the vote. Under it, the top two vote-getters in the primary advance to the general election, regardless of party.

The state Republican, Democratic and Libertarian parties sued in May, arguing that measure was unconstitutional because it removed the parties’ ability to select their own candidates.

In a 40-page ruling on Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly said the state cannot allow voters to skip back and forth along party lines as they pick a favorite candidate for each office. Nor can it allow candidates to identify themselves by party on a ballot without that party’s approval, Zilly wrote.

Without a request for a stay, the effect of ruling means the state returns to the “Montana-style” primary it used during last fall’s election.

When voters go to the polls Sept. 20, they will select one party’s ballot – blue for Democrats, red for Republicans – and vote for their favorite candidates on that ballot.

Reed said it was important they stick with the Montana method for this year, because in the coming weeks, counties need to order the ballots and have them mailed out 18 days before the primary.

State Attorney General Rob McKenna has said he plans to appeal Zilly’s ruling. Attorneys in McKenna’s office are researching that option, and the state will make a final decision next week, Reed said.

Reed said it was important to fight for the intent of the voters.

“They want to have a wide-open primary system in the state of Washington,” he said.

The Washington State Grange, which sponsored I-872, also has said it will appeal.

This isn’t the first time Washington’s primary system has come under scrutiny.

For nearly 70 years, the state used a “blanket” primary system, where voters picked their favorites for each office, regardless of party affiliation. The top Democratic, Republican and third-party vote-getters for each office advanced to the general election.

That system was struck down by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2003, three years after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a similar system in California.

The Supreme Court said opening a party’s nominating process to people who didn’t belong to the party – candidates or voters – infringes on the rights of the party to pick its own nominees.

The parties point to that case as proof the state won’t prevail on appeal.

“They refuse to admit they’re so clearly wrong,” said state Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance. “Just like they stood up and bravely said that the blanket primary would survive when everyone knew it wouldn’t. Why waste time with a meritless appeal?”

State Democratic Chairman Paul Berendt agreed.

“If they thought they were going to win, they would have pressed for a stay very quickly,” he said.

The state had argued that the initiative was constitutional because it was a nonpartisan primary.

But Zilly dismissed that argument, saying that if candidates are identified by party preference on the ballot, it’s not a nonpartisan system. And, he said, if parties can merely endorse whoever makes the final ballot, the state is stepping on their right to nominate a candidate.

Berendt said the recent ruling helped the parties turn a corner on the contentious issue.

“After all of these court cases, people have begun to understand that the parties do have rights, they have the right to choose their nominees, and the state has violated those rights,” he said.