The April 8 Olympian (daily newspaper for Washington state’s capital city) has this story about the probable effect of the “top-two” primary on minor parties. The story also covers plans by the Democratic Party to hold endorsement conventions. But, as the story notes, nothing on a Washington state primary or general election ballot will reveal which Democrat has been endorsed by the party.

One aspect of “top-two” is not covered by the story. Washington state permits write-ins in primaries and general elections. Although the state has a procedure for a write-in candidate to file a declaration of write-in candidacy, Washington state election law says that if the vote-counting equipment indicates that any write-in candidate may have outpolled someone whose name is printed on the ballot, the write-ins must be counted, whether the write-in candidate filed a write-in declaration of candidacy or not.

It is very likely that there will be federal and state offices in which the two top vote-getters will both be Democrats, or will both be Republicans. That will inevitably lead to strong write-in candidacies in the general election, on behalf of someone from the major party that otherwise won’t have anyone running. Although Washington state law says no one who was defeated in a primary may file a write-in declaration of candidacy, that doesn’t stop a primary loser from running in the general election. And write-ins for such a person will be counted if the vote-counting equipment senses they may have outpolled someone listed on the ballot.

In a race with 2 Democrats on the November ballot, a write-in Republican could win in November with as little as 34% of the vote, if the two Democrats are evenly divided. Of course, the same is true in reverse, if two Republicans are on the November ballot and Democrats sponsor a write-in candidate. Elections officials know that it costs much more work and money to count write-in votes, than votes for candidates listed on ballots. The “top-two” system may prove troublesome to elections officials, if indeed it is responsible for a raft of strong write-in campaigns.

Louisiana, the only other state that has a “top-two” system, banned write-ins in 1975 when it instituted “top-two” for state office, so Louisiana experience is not comparable.

On April 8, the Missouri Constitution Party submitted its petition for ballot status. The law requires 10,000 valid signatures. The party actually finished this petition months ago. However, a badly drafted law requires the party to have chosen its candidates no later than the day it submits its petition. The party has been recruiting candidates for Congress and state legislature for the last several months.

The Arizona Green Party petition has now been checked by the various county elections officials, and the county totals reveal that the party has more than enough valid signatures. The news won’t be official until the Secretary of State adds up the county totals; the official announcement is likely on Friday. This is the first time a new party petition has succeeded in Arizona since 2000. It is also the third time the Green Party has qualified as a party in that state. The other times were in 1992 and 2000.

If the Green Party can boost its registration up to two-thirds of 1% of the state total (approximately 14,500 members) by November 2009, then it can remain on the ballot. The Arizona Libertarian Party has its registration up that far, and that is why it has been on the ballot continuously since 1992.