The Washington State Grange plans to work to remove party labels from the ballot, in that state. First it will ask the legislature to pass that idea. If that doesn’t work, it will circulate an initiative to remove party labels from ballots.
Secretary of State Sam Reed, who has previously been an ally of the Grange in election law matters, said on October 26 that he does not support the Grange’s latest idea.
The Grange is motivated to remove party labels from the ballot, because the federal courts have ruled that as long as party labels are on the ballot, political parties then have a First Amendment Freedom of Association right to have some control over who can use their label. The parties used their Freedom of Association right to win a lawsuit against the “top-two” election system in the 9th circuit a few months ago. Although the state and the Grange will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, few expect that Court to hear that appeal.
I really wish the Grange would get on board with Instant Run-Off Voting already. God knows that pro-IRV groups have lobbied to get them to change on this.
Their top two primary system limits voter choice, pretty much eliminates the chance of getting a third party candidate on the November ballot ever, gives us very high odds of getting two Democrats or two Republicans alone on the general election ballots in many districts and without party labels, candidates can avoid taking real clear positions in the voters pamphlet and force voters to try to see through the semantics of their statements.
Not to mention that that top two would be chosen by a minority of voters that actually participate in the primaries.
IRV groups are currently fighting to eliminate the primary altogether and replace it with a single November general election using IRV. That way you maximize voter choice, allow minority voices to have a chance and not base nominees off of the will of a minority of the eligible voters.
BTW – Our Secretary of State is Sam Reed (Ralph Munro retired in 2000).
I agree that what Washington State needs is IRV. It answers everyone concerns. Pierce County voters (Tacoma, WA) will be voting on IRV next week thanks to the tireless work of Kelly Haughton, a long-time Libertarian who got elected to the Pierce County Charter Review Commission and pushed IRV. The Tacoma News Tribune, the largest paper in the county, has endorsed Prop. 3, the IRV measure.