[EM] Re: parties working to throw out top-two primary in Washington State

[Russ Paielli]

So now the parties will need to have their own "private pre-primaries" 
before the official so-called "primary." And the general election will 
almost surely exclude minor parties.

Or will the "we'll-tell-you-how-to-run-your-party" Nazis prohibit the 
pre-primaries? Think about the implications of that, folks.

Gov. Schwarnegger actually supported the top-two primary system in 
California last election, but CA voters were smart enough not to go for 
it. I like Arnold, but he was "out to lunch" on that one.

The people who concocted this idea have no clue about the purpose of 
primary elections. The purpose of primaries, of course, is to allow each 
party to consolidate its votes behind one candidate.

The fact that a majority was ignorant enough to fall for this scheme in 
Washington does not bode well for the future of voting systems.

--Russ


Araucaria Araucana araucaria.araucana-at-gmail.com |EMlist| wrote:
> On 27 Apr 2005 at 11:22 UTC-0700, Araucaria Araucana wrote:
> 
>>T> he top-two primary initiative was passed in Washington state last
>>November.
>>
>>Usually initiatives cannot be overridden for 2 years after passage,
>>except by 2/3 majority in the state house and senate.
>>
>>But that isn't stopping the parties ...
>>
>>http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_042605WABprimaryEL.2187e8452.html
>>
>>Could be an opportunity here.
> 
> 
> Sorry, registration required.  Here is the text:
> 
>    Dems and GOP seek to throw out 'top-two primary'
>    
>    05:54 PM PDT on Tuesday, April 26, 2005
>    
>    By ROBERT MAK / KING 5 News
>    
>    SEATTLE -- A new legal battle brewing, not over the governor's race
>    but over the Washington state primary.  Video Clip
>    
>    Robert Mak reports More ... Custom Video ...
>    
>    The state Democratic and Republican parties announced Tuesday they
>    are prepared to sue to get rid of the new primary system voters
>    just approved.
>    
>    So much attention was focused on the governor's race that the one
>    issue both parties agree upon was ignored. Just when you thought
>    the fighting over the state primary was done, the state Republican
>    and Democratic parties revealed Tuesday they're ready to go back to
>    court one more time.
>    
>    The Republicans and Democrats probably joined by the Libertarians
>    will file civil litigation seeking to throw out the "top-two
>    primary" and the new court battle begins again said state
>    Republican chairman Chris Vance.
>    
>    Last year, voters approved a new top-two primary.
>    
>    Starting this year the top two candidates in the September primary
>    will advance to the general election in November. That could be two
>    Democrats or two Republicans. Uunder the top two primary, there's
>    no guarantee that either party will have a candidate in November.
>    
>    KING
>    
>    In the September 2004 primary, voters had to pick a political
>    party.
>    
>    Both parties have never liked the top-two primary and now they
>    intend to bypass the primary altogether. They have a plan to pick
>    their candidates at their party conventions this summer. That could
>    undermine the top-two primary because if parties have their way,
>    voters only get to see one candidate from each party by the time
>    they get their primary ballot.
>    
>    Parties are threatening to sue county auditors allow any other
>    candidate to call themselves a Republican or Democrat.
>    
>    "The courts have clearly ruled that the political parties own their
>    name, and that they can regulate its use," said state Democratic
>    chairman Paul Berendt
>    
>    But Secretary of State Sam Reed is defending the top-two primary,
>    saying voters asked for it and he says it's ridiculous for the
>    parties to try and control how candidates label themselves on the
>    ballot.
>    
>    "Terms like Democrat or Republican have been used since Athenian
>    democracy a couple thousand years ago and the thought that somehow
>    you can say to somebody øYou can't call yourself a Republican or a
>    Democratù just doesn't wash," Reed said.
>    
>    It comes down to this ó parties want control over picking their
>    nominees. The Republicans have sent a letter to King County
>    elections asking the county to honor only the candidates picked at
>    the party convention. If the county does not do that, the parties
>    expect to file their legal action by June.
>    
>    Ultimately, both parties say they'd like to go back to the primary
>    where you declare a party preference and can only vote for
>    candidates in that party.
>    
>    Legal action is expected by June.
>