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Kimsey: Auditor addresses questions about presidential primary

By Greg Kimsey
Published: May 22, 2016, 6:00am

As Clark County auditor, I’m writing to answer a few of the questions voters have about this year’s presidential primary in Washington. Ballots are due Tuesday.

Why are voters asked to declare their political party affiliation?

The presidential primary is designed to help select the political parties’ general election candidates. Political parties require that only those voters who are willing to publicly affiliate with them are allowed to participate in “their” nominating primary. Because Washington voters’ political party affiliation is not part of their voter registration record, voters who choose to participate in a political party’s nominating primary must be willing to provide that information.

 Why is the party declaration on the outside of the affidavit envelope? Should I be concerned that my letter carrier will not deliver my ballot?

Placing the party declaration on the affidavit envelope allows election administrators to protect the confidentiality of the voter’s candidate selection while also determining which political party nominating process the voter is choosing to participate in.

Since we began using large numbers of mail-in ballots in the early 1990s, there has not been a single incident in Oregon or Washington of a U.S. Postal Service employee failing to deliver a ballot due to the voter’s political party affiliation. A USPS employee who interfered with a ballot would lose their job and would be subject to criminal penalties.

Beginning 18 days before each election, voters can deliver their ballot to the elections office by using one of three drive-by permanent ballot drop boxes, or on Election Day one of 30 staffed ballot drop boxes, in addition to the Elections Office. Locations of these can be found at www.ClarkVotes.org.

 Why are we conducting a presidential primary when we already know who the parties’ candidates are?

After canceling the primary in 2012, the Legislature decided that one would be conducted in 2016. The date of the presidential primary was established by an initiative to the Legislature in 1989. State law does provide that an earlier date can be used if two-thirds of a committee consisting of the Secretary of State, four legislators and four people from the two major political parties can agree on such a date. Unfortunately, two-thirds of that committee did not agree on an earlier date for this year’s primary.

Our Secretary of State, Kim Wyman, has been advocating for a change in Washington’s presidential primary. She is preparing legislation that would move our presidential primary to earlier in the year. I strongly support her effort, and encourage you to contact your legislators and share your thoughts on this subject with them.

Why do we have a presidential primary when the political parties just conducted precinct caucuses and county conventions?

The political parties make their own, independent decisions regarding precinct caucuses/county conventions. The political parties also decide if they will use the results of the presidential primary or caucus/convention, or some combination of both, to allocate their delegates for the national convention.

If I participate in the presidential primary of one political party, can I vote for the candidate of another political party in the general election?

Yes.

I hope this has helped you to better understand our presidential primary. If you have additional questions, please contact me at 360-397-2078 or greg.kimsey@clark.wa.gov.


Greg Kimsey, who has been Clark County’s auditor since 1999, oversees elections in the county.

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