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The year of two elections experiments

By Evan Smith
Enterprise forum editor

As candidates filed for office last week, they faced two unknown factors.

First, candidates all over the state faced the uncertainties of the first "top-two" primary, a primary which could produce several single-party match-ups in the general election.

Meanwhile, in Pierce County, candidates for seven county offices will participate in the state's first instant-runoff election, an election that requires no primary.

Instead, all candidates will appear on the November ballot. Voters will rank their first, second and third choices. If a candidate gets a majority of first choices, he or she wins. If not, officials eliminate the candidate with the fewest votes and give that candidate's votes to the number-two person on those ballots. Again, if someone has a majority, we have a winner; if not, we eliminate the last-place candidate and keep going until someone gets a majority.

This fall will give us a test of both systems.

"Top-two" means fewer unopposed elections

Forty of 124 contests on this year's ballot for seats in the state Legislature have either no Republican or no Democratic candidate, but 11 of the 40 will be contested in November because of the new top-two primary system.

Most are seats with two or more candidates from one party.

A notable contest is in the 7th Legislative District in northeast Washington.

In that district, five candidates, all Republicans, have filed for one position in the House of Representatives.

Under a partisan primary, one of the Republicans might win the nomination with 25 or 30 percent of a small primary turnout, then run unopposed in November. In the top-two system, that candidate will have to run off against the No. 2 candidate in a general election that will certainly draw more voters than the primary will.

How IRV will work in Pierce County

Pierce County adopted instant-runoff voting in a charter amendment two years ago.

It applies only to the offices of county executive, county council and other offices established under the County Charter.

This year, that means the county executive, sheriff, assessor-treasurer and four of the seven members of the County Council.

The most interesting election is for county executive.

The field includes a Republican, two Democrats and one candidate from the Executive Excellence Party.

Ballots will ask voters to list their first, second and third choices. Let's say Republican gets more No. 1 votes than anyone else but doesn't get a majority. The Democrats finish second and third. The Executive Excellence candidate, in fourth, is eliminated. Let's say that the No. 2 choices divide evenly among the top three. So, the Republican still leads but still without a majority.

Now the second Democrat is eliminated. Most of that candidate's next choices go to the other Democrat, who gets a majority and wins.


Evan Smith is Enterprise forum editor. Send comments to him at entopinion@heraldnet.com.