Top election official stops in Grant County

Reed talks about public dislike of primary system

EPHRATA — Secretary of State Sam Reed dropped by the Grant County Courthouse Tuesday and spoke with local election officials about the relatively new primary system.

Even though it's the state's third "pick-a-party" primary, voters remain angry and confused about the system requiring them to vote all Republican, or all Democrat.

"People are not getting used to it, they're still very angry about it," Reed said Tuesday. "They don't like the idea of having to pick a party, they want to vote for the person, not the party."

Partisan votes don't count in the primary, if voters don't follow the party line.

Reed is concerned with the number of invalidated partisan votes. Most voters did not follow ballot instructions, he said, while a few ignored them in protest.

In counties using the multiple ballot process — where voters are sent separate Republican, Democratic and nonpartisan ballots — invalidation rates ranged from 4 to 5 percent.

Grant County used the multiple ballot process, but Auditor Bill Varney expects no more than 300 people's partisan votes, or 3 percent, to be invalidated when counting is completed Friday.

In King County and others using the unified ballot, where all candidates are listed on one sheet of paper, between 10 to 12 of the ballots were rejected for partisan races, Reed said.

Some people using the unified ballot voted along party lines, but failed to take the pesky step of checking a box indicating that party. Some voters do this in protest, Reed said, but most didn't follow directions.

He plans to ask the state Legislature in 2007 to eliminate the extra step, to ensure votes are counted when people follow the party line.

"Right now we can't count them, because this is what the parties insisted on," Reed said.

"But it's a huge number, we're probably going to get 10 to 12 percent of the people using the unified ballot who are not having their votes counted in partisan races," he said. "It's huge, when you consider we had a governor's race decided by less than 1 percent."

In 2003, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Washington's nearly 70-year-old "blanket primary." The next year, voters approved by initiative — in a landslide 60 percent vote — the "top two" primary system, though it was never used.

Both systems allowed voters to choose candidates, regardless of party.

Neither Democrats nor Republicans want the other helping choose their candidates. The parties sued to change the system and won, leaving voters with the current pick-a-party primary.

Last month, the federal court of appeals opted not to reinstate the top two primary system.

The Washington State Grange, which supports the previous primary system, is now pushing for one with all party designations removed.

Reed said some voters may be disappointed by not having a wide open primary system, but the general election still allows people to vote for either party's candidates.

"People need to understand that they will not be limited by party in the general election," Reed said. "For some reason, some people kind of assumed that's the way general election works."