NEWS RELEASE
January 8,
2004
For
more information, contact David Burr, Communications Director, (360)943-9911
GRANGE FILES INITIATIVE TO PRESERVE STATE’S PRIMARY SYSTEM
Washington
State Grange President Terry Hunt filed an initiative today with the Secretary
of State to protect the state’s primary system from attacks by the major
political parties.
“This
is basically a back-up plan in case the U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t accept our
request for review of the Ninth Circuit Court decision against Washington
State’s blanket primary,” said Hunt.
“We believe that the Supreme Court will eventually uphold our blanket
primary, but we need to be prepared if that does not happen.
“We
hope to know by March whether or not the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the
blanket primary case. If they do hear
the appeal, then everything will be on hold until next year,” Hunt pointed out.
“For seventy years under the blanket primary
system, the voters of this state have chosen which candidates advance to the general
election ballot. Now the major
political parties are trying to take that away from the voters. This proposed initiative will ensure that
the candidates who appear on the general election ballot are those who have the
most support from the voters -- not just the support of the political party
leadership.”
The
voters of Washington overwhelmingly support the blanket primary. In a blanket primary, the voter does not
have to declare political party affiliation at any stage of the process and may
vote for any candidate for any office on the primary ballot.
“The
major political parties are going to try to convince the Legislature and the
public that the only way to change the primary system is to restrict voters’
choices in the primary and to force independent voters out of the primary
altogether,” Hunt explained. “This is
simply not true. We can continue to
have all of the benefits of the blanket primary, including the right of a voter
to pick any candidate for any office.”
The
proposed initiative would replace the current nominating system with a
qualifying primary, similar to the nonpartisan primaries used for city, school
district, and judicial offices. As in
those primaries, the two candidates who receive the greatest number of votes
would advance to the general election.
Candidates for partisan offices would continue to identify a political
party preference when they file for office and that designation would appear on
both the primary and general election ballots.
“We want the Legislature to know
that there are alternatives to the restrictive proposals the political parties
are trying to push,” Hunt said. “And we
want the voters to know that they can continue to have a primary where they
choose the candidates that go on the general election ballot. If the Court rules against the blanket
primary and the Legislature doesn’t adopt a system that preserves the rights
that voters now enjoy under the blanket primary, we are ready with an
initiative that will do just that.”
The
Washington State Grange is the key player in efforts to retain the state’s
decades-old blanket primary. The current primary system -- which is being
attacked in court by the political parties -- was put into place due to Grange
action in the 1930s.
For complete information about the
blanket primary, go to http://www.blanketprimary.org/
# # # #
Note to editors: For your information,
the following background information has been placed on our website:
a) An electronic version of this press
release (http://www.blanketprimary.org/pressjan2004.htm)
b) The text of the initiative filed today (http://www.blanketprimary.org/textqpinitiative.htm)
c) A FAQ page answering many questions about
our primary (http://www.blanketprimary.org/faq-jan2004.htm)
d) A chart showing differences between
Washington State’s primary and those of other states (http://www.blanketprimary.org/comparison.htm)