An initiative preserving the blanket primary in Washington was delivered to the Secretary of State=s office Jan. 8 at 10 a.m. by Grangers for Citizens Preserving the Blanket Primary.

AAs I=ve said all along, this initiative does indeed protect the rights of the voters of this state to vote for whomever they want, regardless of party affiliation, without having to divulge their own party affiliation in order to vote,@ said Washington State Grange Master Terry Hunt.

As voters have for 65 years, this initiative will allow them to vote across party lines in the primary. In order to allow this, in the face of a lawsuit brought forth by the major parties of this state, a new classification of candidacy has been created to protect the parties= rights of affiliation as outlined in the opinion of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Scalia in last summer=s ruling on the blanket primary system in California.

AThis initiative provides the political parties to pick their own candidate to run on the primary ballot, without influence from those outside the party,@ explained Hunt. AThe parties would be allowed to choose their own >official= candidate to put on the ticket, through a convention, their own primary, caucus or whatever system they want.@

The new Aofficial candidate@ classification works like this: parties, through whatever system they choose, select their own candidate for the primary. When candidates file with the Secretary of State=s office, they can identify as Democrat, Republican or other party. The Secretary of State will have a list of official candidates given to them by the political parties. Those candidates who choose to run with a party affiliation but are not official candidates will appear on the primary ballot as Aaffiliate candidates,@ such as ARepublican affiliate,@ etc.

AThis system, unique in the U.S., allows the political parties the freedom to choose their own candidates,@ said Hunt. AIt also allows the voters of this state the freedom to a totally secret ballot, as afforded by the Washington State Constitution, the right to vote for whichever candidate they prefer, and also allows candidates to choose the party, if any, with which they wish to be affiliated.@

Nearly all other aspects of the blanket primary as it has existed for 65 years remain intact through this initiative. Attorney Jim Johnson of Olympia, who drafted the initiative and who has decades of experience with election law, noted it was important to keep the scope of the initiative narrow to counter any potential legal problems such as those plaguing initiatives in recent years.

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