I’ve heard arguments against Initiative 872 to establish a “qualifying primary,” in which voters could choose among candidates from any party with the top two vote-getters advancing to the general election. Here is my take on the objections:
Objection 1: It won’t re-establish the blanket primary.
Response: No. It would start a better system. The system would have the advantages of the blanket primary (particularly, the freedom to vote for candidates of any party) without the disadvantages (particularly, the ability of proponents of one candidate to help choose his or her opponent). We would all indicate our choices in September, with the strongest running in November. A two-person general election would eliminate situations where a candidate could win an election without getting a majority of votes cast.
Objection 2: The system could produce general elections between two Democrats or two Republicans, weakening the parties.
Response: This would be rare and usually would happen only in situations that wouldn’t be harmful.
Studies of voting in recent blanket primaries show that the top two vote-getters were from the same party only about 3 percent of the time, sometimes because there was no candidate (or only a token candidate) from the other party.
Opponents point to the 1996 primary for governor, in which Democrats Gary Locke and Norm Rice both outpolled Republican nominee Ellen Craswell.. Craswell appealed only to the extreme right wing of her party; state Republican leaders have learned to recruit candidates who have broad appeal The top-two system would force them to do that. It would also force Republicans who want their candidate to qualify to vote for that candidate in the primary.
Objection 3: The system would hurt candidates other than Republicans and Democrats because the general election would be limited to two candidates.
Response: The top-two system would force small parties to concentrate their efforts on contests in which they have the best chance of winning or at least of getting into the top two. This year, we have Green Party candidates for four statewide offices and a seat in Congress but not in legislative or local races where they would have a better chance of getting elected and establishing a political base.
If we are really concerned about access to the ballot for minor-party or independent candidates, we shouldn’t keep the current system. This year, only the Republicans, Democrats and Libertarians had places on the primary ballot, with only the Green Party getting enough signatures to join them on the general-election ballot.
Under the blanket primary, we often had independents and the American Heritage, Constitution, Freedom Socialist, Natural Law, Reform, Socialist Labor and Socialist Workers parties in the primary, with most getting the required 1 percent to get to the general election.
In a top-two system, they could at least get to the primary ballot.
Evan Smith is the Forum editor.
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