PowerPoint Presentation No Slide Title

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Brief History of Party Primaries In Washington

Todd Donovan Western Washington University
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Major Issues
What is a partys right to free association?
Should parties pick their own nominees? Wha
t is a political party? Who in party gets to cho
ose nominee?
What is the public (state) interest in
regulating elections? Can anyone vote to pick
a partys nominee? What happens to independent
voters?
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Origins of Washingtons unique primary
Life before primaries (19th Century)
Party conventions in WA 1890-1907 Party elit
es picked party nominees closed caucus nomina
tions November ballot spots owned by party
organization
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Origins of Washingtons unique primary
Progressive Era Reforms/ Early 20th Cent
Direct Primaries allow rank-and-file voters
a say most states adopted voter registration
most required voters register with a party
WA, voter registration by 1934 no party decl
aration in WA when registered The original WA
open partisan primary 1907-1934
declare party at polls, receive that partys b
allot only choose among that partys candidates
no record kept (??)
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Origins of Washingtons unique primary

Party primaries without party registration?
Legislature attempted party registration in
1921 1922 - Successful referendum petition for
public vote Statewide vote result (or revo
lt) For party registration 27 Again
st party registration 73
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WA Grange Initiative to Legislature, 1934
The ultimate open primary A blanket, open
primary all voters vote for any candidate in p
rimary on the same ballot, candidates party on
ballot, no party registration Legislatur
e adopted, 1935 State Supreme Court upheld,
1936 1978
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Nearly all other states have party registration,

Thus, WA remained very unique
1934 - 1996 WA Blanket primary persisted sinc
e no major Federal court challenge no voter
registration Only Alaska w/ similar system (p
ost 1959), but with party registration 1990
, Alaska GOP bans Dems from their primaries
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The Demise of the WA Blanket Primary
1996 California adopted blanket open primary
Proposition 198 Yes 59.5 No 40.5
BUT California had party registration,
California parties sued and won
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Challenges to Washingtons Primary
CA Democratic Party, et al v. Jones, et al
(2000) 1st Amendment allows party to decide on t
ype of primary State cant have blanket primary
w/o party consent Unclear what state can do w/o
party consent Unclear if parties now have a righ
t to demand closed primary Scalia describes a po
tentially acceptable top-two system
How did this shape the task of designing a new
primary?

Blanket primary not unconditional, but WA
parties reject it Most types of open primaries n
ot affected by ruling (??) wide menu of choices
to choose from (if OK w/ parties)
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Challenges
Major factors shaping design of new system
Would independents get to vote in primary?
Would their votes be counted?
Would there be a record of which party you vote
for? Minor party status and ballot access?
How declare party choice if vote-by-mail ?
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Terminology, or a simplified menu of choices
Open Partisan Primary voters decide which pr
imary they participate in on election day.
with private declaration all voters p
ick a party in booth. with public declaration
record kept of which party they select
ed either way, ballots have candidates from on
e party only 20 states use these, including Mo
ntana Arizona Some open states less open t
han others
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Terminology, or a simplified menu of choices
Closed Partisan Primary Voters get ballot f
or party they register with in advance
Independents can be excluded Choice of state
party organizations, not voters
Most (28) states use these
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Terminology, or a simplified menu of choices
Non-Partisan qualifying Primary
Single blanket primary ballot issued to all v
oters Voters can pick candidates of any party
for any office Top two candidates go on to Gen
eral Election regardless of their party
Selects top candidates, NOT party nominee
D vs. D, or D vs. R, or R vs R
Louisiana uses a (bad) version of this
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Effects of Blanket vs. Partisan Primaries?
More representative candidates nominated, el
ected Candidates closer to center draw more vo
ters to polls Cross over voting exists, but no
t malicious Turnout may increase w/ more open
systems
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How WA citizens view this?
A plurality of WA voters have no party
preference Generally speaking, do you con
sider yourself a Democrat, Republican, or wha
t? WA US Democrat 28 34 Republican
25 30 independent 40 35 other 6 1
Source WA, Applied Research Northwest, 2000
US, National Election
Study, 2002.
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How citizens view this
Most WA voters wanted to keep the blanket
primary Most partisans also wanted to keep the
blanket primary Most WA voters favor top-two
over Montana
Modified (Cajun) blanket primary 56
Open (partisan) primary 30 No opinion 15
Source 2003 Elway Poll
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How citizens view this
California Blanket Primary Exit Poll, 1998
Produces more representative candidates 80.
2 Agree Gives voters more choices
77.1 Agree Produces more substan
tive campaigns 70.4 Agree
Creates more interesting elections
70.0 Agree
Source B. Jones, Alvarez and Nagler Research
Group. June 1998
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What the legislature did, March 2004
Two main bills Top-two Backed by Sam Ree
d, Sty of State Modified Louisiana Blanket p
rimary ballot Only top two from primary listed o
n General ballot Supported by Ds Rs from compe
titive leg. districts Montana Democrati
c party leaderships plan Partisan primary, no p
ublic record Independent's votes should count
Supported by Ds Rs from safe leg. Districts
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What the legislature did, March 2004
Sent Gov. a Trojan Horse Top-Two bill 1
st part set up Top Two system
2nd part set up partisan primary in case top
two was invalidated Locke vetoed key p
arts of bill to make it Montana
e.g. a partisan primary (veto in April
04)
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September 2004 State held Montana Primary

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Main effects of Montana, Sept 2004
You had to pick a party in primary Vote sa
me party for all offices in primary
Non-competitive legislative races (60 of seats
) Uncontested legislative races in November 0
4 Always have D vs. R in statewide races P
arties (Ds) will push for voter lists exclu
ding independents
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What effects I-872? Grange sponsored Top-two
initiative Nov. 2004 Approved by voters (59 Y
es) More litigation Parties hate this Mino
r parties still screwed 872 would have made mor
e legislative races contested
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What the parties did Sued state (again), May 2
005 Challenged use of Top 2 in Sept. 2005 pri
mary violated 1st and 14th Amendment rights
Threatend to not use primaries for state-wid
e races July 2005, USDC nullified I872/Top
2
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What is next? Is the LA primary system threate
ned? Are all open primaries at risk? Can p
arties reject primary nominees party officials
do not like? Will parties force public
declaration? Can parties control who gets to l
ist themselves to contest in primary electio
n? Non-partisan elections? Minor parties ?
??? (100 _at_ convention to pick candidates)
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Figure 1 Partisan Control of The Washington
Legislature
1974 - 2002
0.65
0.6
0.55
House
Proportion Seats Democratic
Senate
0.5
0.45
0.4
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
Year