Poll: 76 percent liked top-two primary

• Published September 02, 2008

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The Aug. 19 primary election was a hit with voters, according to a poll released last week for the Office of the Secretary of State.

Turnout for the election failed to measure up to Secretary of State Sam Reed’s advance billing, but the 500-voter poll by Elway Research, Inc., showed 76 percent liked the “top-two” runoff primary and only 19 percent disliked it. Reed’s aides said the post-primary poll is costing taxpayers $15,000.

Here is a link to Elway’s evaluation of the results and another link to his data.

The top-two lets the two biggest vote getters in each race advance to the Nov. 4 general election, regardless of party. In a few cases like the 22nd Legislative District’s Senate race and two Mason County commissioner races, two Democrats are advancing this year.

The top-two replaced the pick-a-party approach that for four years had required voters to privately select a single-party ballot if they wanted to vote in partisan races. Pick-a-party did allow more candidates to advance to the November ballot, but it drew flak from voters who scrawled protests on their ballots.

The “pick-a-party” took effect in 2004 after Gov. Gary Locke vetoed the top-two out of legislation that passed in response to a court ruling that struck down the state’s wide-open blanket primary.

Elway found 67 percent disliked the “pick-a-party” primary approach with just 18 percent of independents saying they liked it. Those liking the top-two included 68 percent of Democrats, 66 percent of Republicans and 82 percent of independents.

Asked which of the two they liked, 71 percent of voters said the top two and 20 percent said pick-a-party.

The poll questioned 500 Washington residents who participated in the 2006 and 2008 primary elections, surveying them on Aug. 22-24; the error margin was plus or minus 4.5 percent.

Reed’s office has no immediate plans to hire another poll after the November election to see if the public still likes the top-two. Voters by then will have seen more choices in August and fewer in November.

It remains to be seen what further moves the state Democratic, Republican and Libertarian parties will take to invalidate the top-two.