Will WA have a Presidential Primary that counts for something next year?
OLYMPIA -- Washington's presidential primary would award at least some delegates to each major party's national conventions under a bill supported by Secretary of State Kim Wyman.
If both parties don't agree to do that by October, the primary could go forward without requiring voters to state their party preference. Or it could be cancelled, saving the state an estimated $11.5 million.
"We need the results to mean something," Wyman said.
The presidential primary, which voters approved in 1989, has a checkered history with the parties, which for decades used the caucus system to award delegates to their presidential candidates.
"The presidential primary really is the people's primary," she said. "Caucuses tend to be for the party faithful."
Republicans have sometimes awarded a portion of their delegates based on primary results, Democrats have run into conflicts with their national rules because Washington voters don't register by party.
Republicans have sometimes awarded a portion of their delegates based on primary results, Democrats have run into conflicts with their national rules because Washington voters don't register by party.
The presidential primary has been cancelled twice -- in 2004 and 2012 -- to save money. It has gone through various iterations that allowed voters to pick one party's ballot and be identified with that party, or pick a general ballot with both parties' candidates, resulting in a range of results.
State elections officials have also moved it around in an effort to position it in a calendar spot that will draw maximum attention from voters.
A Senate committee has scheduled a hearing this week on a Wyman-backed bill with primary "voter protection" provision that says the state Republican and Democratic party leaders have until Oct. 1 to decide whether they will award at least some delegates based on the primary results. There's no minimum set in the bill.
If they agree to do that, voters will have to declare a party preference on their ballot and vote for one of the candidates on that party's list. Lists of voters by party choice will be made public, so party officials will have lists of people who at least for the purposes of the primary say they identify as a Democrat or a Republican.
If the parties don't agree, a primary ballot could go out with all both parties candidates, and voters could select one without indicating a party preference. Or the state could again cancel the primary sometime in the fall before the counties begin spending the money to print envelopes and ballots.
Wyman is proposing the primary be held on March 8, a week after Super Tuesday, and said she hopes to interest elections officials in nearby states to joining in a regional primary on that day.
