elieve it or not, election season has arrived in Washington. Ballots for the state’s presidential primary are scheduled to be mailed today, essentially throwing out the first pitch of a voting period that ends May 24.
But rather than appearing with all the pomp and circumstance of an important playoff game, Washington’s primary contest suddenly seems about as essential as a spring training contest. And that points out the necessity of moving the state’s presidential vote to an earlier spot on the calendar.
With their primary taking place in late May, Washington voters typically don’t get to weigh in on the presidential race until the nominees have been all but decided. Such is the case this year, as Republican contenders Ted Cruz and John Kasich dropped out of the race this week — leaving a clear path to the party’s nomination for Donald Trump. That marked an unfortunate turn of events for Washington voters. State Republican officials had decided that the primary will determine the allocation for all 44 delegates to the national convention, giving the electorate a direct say in who will be the party’s flag-bearer in the November general election.
The approach is much preferable to that of Democrats in the state, who are allocating delegates based upon results of the party’s March 26 caucuses, which were won by Bernie Sanders.
In the future, we again call upon the state Democratic Party to embrace the primary for choosing its delegates. Sanders was the big winner in the caucuses, but those caucuses drew about one-third as many people as the 700,000 Washingtonians who voted in the state’s last Democratic primary. The caucus system serves the most fervent of supporters but flies against the notion of democracy. As Susan Hutchinson, the state Republican chairwoman, told The Seattle Times: “The caucus system is old and outdated. There are just too many people who can’t participate.”
While the primary for both parties now amounts to little more than a beauty contest, there are some things that citizens need to know.
Because voters do not register by party in this state, they must choose one party or the other for the presidential primary. No, you may not vote for both, say, Trump and Sanders, lest your ballot be invalidated. Those who consider themselves to be independents may vote in one primary or the other — but be prepared to start receiving mail from the party you select. A voter’s party declaration will be public record, but the candidate of their choice will remain confidential.
Confused? That is understandable. Washington’s nonpartisan top-two primary system for state and local elections is a wonderful scheme, but it does not mesh well with the stubbornly archaic presidential primaries — a dichotomy this state is still navigating. One of the adjustments should be to move the presidential primary up on the calendar, which Secretary of State Kim Wyman has attempted without success.
The benefits of such a move were emphasized this week. If Washington’s primary had been two weeks ago or two months ago, the state would have become a battleground for candidates. Contenders would have been forced to articulate positions on trade and the minimum wage and how the federal government should react to legalized marijuana. They would have been forced to address issues of vital importance to Washington and Washington voters.
Instead, the state’s presidential primary will come and go as little more than an exhibition for the candidates.
