Nonpartisan Blanket Primary - Use in Washington State

Use in Washington State

Washington state, along with California and Alaska, had a blanket primary system that allowed every voter to choose a candidate of any party for each position. This kind of system was ruled unconstitutional in California Democratic Party v. Jones in 2000 because it forced political parties to endorse candidates against their will.

The Washington State Legislature passed a new primary system in 2004, which would have created a nonpartisan blanket or "Top Two" primary system, with an Open primary as a backup, giving the Governor the option to choose. Although Secretary of State Sam Reed advocated the Top Two, on April 1, 2004 the Governor used the line-item veto to activate the Open primary instead. In response, Washington's Initiative 872 was filed on January 8, 2004 by Terry Hunt from the Washington Grange, which proposed to create a nonpartisan blanket primary in that state. The measure passed with 59.8% of the vote (1,632,225 yes votes and 1,095,190 no votes) in 2004.

On March 18, 2008, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party that Washington's Initiative 872 was constitutionally permissible, because unlike the earlier blanket primary, it officially disregards party affiliation while allowing candidates to state their party preference. However, the court wanted to wait for more evidence before addressing the chief items in the complaint and remanded the decision to the lower courts. Since the 2008 decision Washington State implemented the Top two primary, which applies to federal, state and local elections, but not to presidential elections.

There is no voter party registration in Washington. Candidates are not restricted to stating a preference to an established major or minor party. The candidate, on the ballot, has up to 16 characters to describe the party that he or she prefers. Some candidates state a preference for an established major party, such as the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, while others use the ballot to send a message, such as Prefers No New Taxes Party or Prefers Salmon Yoga Party. Since this is a "preference" and not a declaration of party membership, candidates can assert party affiliation without approval of the party itself, and even use alternate terms for a given party, such as gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi's 2008 stated preference for the "GOP Party", despite being a prominent Republican.