On May 19, the Republican Party of Washington state filed a lawsuit in federal court against the “top two” primary system passed by the voters in Washington last November. Washington State Republican Party v Logan, 05-927-Z, Seattle. About ten counties in Washington will be holding partisan elections for county office this year, and the lawsuit will thus be processed fairly quickly. The Democratic and Libertarian Parties also filed papers asking to intervene on the side of the Republican Party.
Well, at least we know one thing is for certain. If the two major parties are against a bad bill and have allied with the minor parties of Washington state, the “top-two” primary regulation is most likely to have a very short lifespan.
It is important to remember that the interest of the Democratic and Republican Parties is not the same as the interest of Democratic and Republican office holders. Officeholders do not want strong parties- which is why we had the blanket primary for so long, and why we have the Louisiana primary now.
The two major parties and the Libertarians are challenging the status quo, and the two major parties are resisting a lot of pressure from their elected officials to do so.
The suit, Washington State Republican Party v. Logan, will now be heard on motions for summary judgment on July 13. The GOP, Democrats and Libertarians are seeking to block implementation of the Louisiana-style primary adopted by initiative last year. The state, county auditors, and the Grange oppose their motion. One of the effects of a victory for the parties would be to restore ballot access on reasonable terms for third parties. Under the Louisiana-style primary, a third party could only get a candidate on the ballot if the candidate got more votes than all but one candidates in the primary.