Reed outlines ‘Top Two’ ballot

OLYMPIA – Heads up, voters: Your ballot might look a little strange this August.

Don’t be surprised, for example, if you find unusual slogans and shameless commercial pitches beneath some candidate names.

Secretary of State Sam Reed on Wednesday proposed rules for the state’s first Top Two primary. In a move designed to avoid another court challenge by political parties, the new rules allow candidates to indicate a “preferred party.”

But under the proposed rules, candidates are free to write virtually anything they wish in the space between “prefers” and “party.” The only limits: It can only total 16 characters and can’t be obscene.

“People can describe themselves however they wish,” explained Trova Heffernan, a spokeswoman for Reed. “It’s their First Amendment right.”

Between “prefers” and “party,” candidates could write “NO NEW TAXES” or “ANTI WAR DEM” or even a short commercial pitch (“A GOOD BUDWEISER”) on the ballot.

Far-fetched? Perhaps.

But Washington’s ballot is no stranger to theatrics. A man named Mike the Mover has run for more than a dozen offices over two decades, largely as cheap advertising. And Michael Goodspaceguy Nelson has run repeatedly on a platform that includes interplanetary colonization. In 2004, the two ran against each other in the gubernatorial primary.

The state’s major political parties find nothing funny about the proposed change. Saying it’s unfair to allow non-party members to pick their standard bearers in the November election, they successfully sued to overturn the “blanket primary” that for decades allowed Washington voters to hopscotch between parties on a primary ballot. Voters responded by overwhelmingly approving the similar-looking Top Two primary in 2004. The parties sued again. Ever since, Washington voters have had to pick a party in the primary and choose only among candidates from that party.

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court gave a 7-2 green light to the Top Two primary, saying the parties haven’t shown that they’ve been harmed. Only Louisiana has a similar system. Washington’s first such primary is slated for Aug. 19.

The parties want to be able to designate their nominees on the ballot. Reed’s proposed rules don’t allow that. They also point out that the change results in fewer choices – just two – on the November ballot.

Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz also said Wednesday that the new primary would effectively “outlaw” minor parties. They were once guaranteed a spot on the November ballot. Now they only make it if they’re in the top two vote-getters, which is unlikely in most races.

“The Libertarian, Green, Independent and Progressive parties can sell their office furniture and computers, because they will never again see their names on a meaningful ballot in our state,” Pelz said in a statement.

The system gives the parties no way to repudiate a racist or otherwise objectionable candidate using their name, he said. And the top-two rules make it likely that in very liberal and very conservative enclaves, the two candidates facing off in November will both be Democrats or both be Republicans.

Still, neither the state Democratic nor Republican party has spelled out their next move, if any. Heffernan that said the parties got the proposed rules Wednesday and that her office received no immediate reaction.

Reed, for his part, predicts voters will be “thrilled” with a system that resembles the popular old blanket primary.

“Freedom on the ballot is the core of Washington’s political heritage,” he said. The Supreme Court ruling in March told the state to craft the rules carefully so the party’s constitutional rights aren’t stepped on, he said.

“We’re paying attention and we’ll get it right,” he said.