Washington voters are having a devil of a time accepting the reality of partisan voting in primary elections.

State elections officials say thousands of votes cast in Tuesday’s primary – or at least meant to be cast – were invalidated because voters either crossed party lines from one race to another, or they failed to declare their party affiliation as required.

For decades, that wasn’t an issue. This state, along with only two or three others, operated under the blanket primary system, allowing voters to pick Democrats in some races, Republicans in others. Citizens cherished the latitude, but to the parties it was like letting Husky fans help choose the Cougars’ starting lineup for the Apple Cup.

In time, the courts concurred, ruling that the blanket primary violates the parties’ freedom of association rights under the First Amendment. That is, they are entitled to insist that only party members participate in choosing party nominees.

The voters have not adapted gracefully to the new system. The fallout has led some die-hards, notably the Washington State Grange, on a stubborn quest to restore at least the semblance of a blanket primary. Bad idea. The Grange – whose initiative petition created the blanket primary 70 years ago – is now talking about countering the political parties’ argument by eliminating partisan elections. All offices would be nonpartisan – no Republicans, no Democrats, no Libertarians, no Greens …

It’s foolhardy to think, however, that the candidates who run wouldn’t still have party affiliations – not to mention obligations to campaign donors with narrow self-interests in mind. Furthermore, public officials such as members of Congress and the Legislature would be handicapped as they tried to build a political bridge between a nonpartisan candidacy and a caucus structure where party identity and political influence are interwoven.

Across the land, the vast majority of American voters accept the primary election structure that Washingtonians now regard as a burden. Some officials have speculated that the thousands of miscast ballots from Tuesday’s election were marked deliberately as an act of defiance.

The system isn’t that complicated. In Spokane County, you get three ballots – Democrat, Republican or nonpartisan – and mark only one. (Nonpartisan races such as judgeships appear on all three.) In some other jurisdictions, the voter must write in the party affiliation of choice. Voters also have the option of sitting out the primary and waiting for the general election when the winners are actually selected.

Critics make a plausible case that if the primary is an instrument of party business, the state taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill for the primary election. Perhaps, although the two-party tradition that has evolved over more than two centuries of American history is arguably an expression of collective public will.

For now, Washington state is still regaining its equilibrium from the embarrassments of the 2004 gubernatorial debacle. We need to restore stability, not send the election system spinning off on another gyration.

If it takes a couple more years of educational outreach programs to establish voter comfort and familiarity, state and local officials should commit to it.

But let’s accept reality. The blanket primary is an idea whose time has gone.