It’s been eight years since the state’s last presidential primary.
That’s long enough for voters to forget some of the unique rules for this electoral event.
When ballots arrive for the Feb. 19 primary, voters will pick either the Democratic or Republican party and then one of their candidates.
Voters must then sign an oath swearing allegiance to their selected political party – or else the ballot will not be tallied.
Here are the party-scribed declarations that will appear on the mail ballot envelopes:
Republican: I declare that I am a member of the Republican party and I have not participated and will not participate in the 2008 precinct caucus or convention system of any other party.
Democrat:I declare that I consider myself to be a DEMOCRAT and I will not participate in the nomination process of any other political party for the 2008 Presidential election.
Signing an oath won’t be kept a secret, either.
Once results are certified, the parties will get the names of their respective loyalists. That’s a great mail list heading into the fall campaign season.
Secretary of State Sam Reed told me he’s expecting to hear “a bit of outrage from the voters” in response to the oath
.
Snohomish County Auditor Carolyn Diepenbrock said election workers will likely catch the brunt of voter anger.
“It is very frustrating,” she said. “There is some animosity on the part of voters because they are asked to affiliate with a party and then to have the party totally or partially ignore the results.”
She’s referring to the Democratic Party decision to have presidential candidates pick up delegates to the national convention based on voting in party caucuses Feb. 9. Republicans will use primary results to allocate roughly half their delegates and use caucuses for the rest.
You can get the full 411 on the presidential primary from the Secretary of State’s Web site.
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