Washington voters offer preview to Oregon’s Measure 65

By David Steves
The Register-Guard

SALEM — If Oregon voters want to know how Measure 65 would change their elections, they need only look north.

Washington state is in the midst of its inaugural primary election using the “top two” format, which is similar to the open primary approach that Measure 65 would bring to Oregon.

Both Washington’s new voting system and the one Oregonians will consider in November give all voters the same ballot, regardless of their party affiliation. The two top vote-getters will move on to the general election, even if they both happen to be Republicans, Democrats or one of each.

Former Oregon Secretary of State Phil Keisling, a Democrat, teamed up with a Republican predecessor, Norma Paulus, to sponsor Measure 65. He said he’ll be watching this Tuesday’s election results in Washington for evidence he can use to make the case to Oregonians that voters get more choices under the top two format.

Keisling said he hopes to to make that argument by pointing to races with two candidates, where otherwise only one would emerge. Such is frequently the case in legislative districts that are overwhelmingly Democratic or Republican in voter makeup. Several candidates from the dominant party may duke it out in the primary, but without an opponent from the other major party, the contest is virtually over by the general election.

With the top two format, Keisling said, “My guess is that, arguably, a high number of races will still be competitive.”

Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed is predicting 46 percent voter turnout, the highest for a state primary since 1972.

Washington’s voters adopted the top two system in 2004. But legal wrangling kept it on hold until a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in March cleared the way for the current primary to be conducted as a top two format. Washington voters will use the format to select finalists for state, legislative and judicial offices.

One big difference between Washington and Oregon is that the state to the north was prompted into pursuing a new voting method after the courts invalidated Washington’s 70-year tradition of using the “blanket” primary approach, where voters were not required to affiliate with a political party and could vote for any candidate on the ballot.

Oregon’s closed primaries have drawn no legal challenges and little organized opposition.

Brianne Hyder, spokeswoman for the Oregon Republican Party, questioned the value of reforming a nominating process that seems to work just fine.

“The closed primary system that we have now has been working for us, and opening the primary is going to create more problems than it’s going to solve,” she said.

Democrats, too, oppose Measure 65. Democratic Party of Oregon spokesman Marc Seigel said that while Washington’s advocates of the top two primary are touting predictions of higher turnout, interest in the general election could wane if candidate choices are limited to two candidates.

“One of the concerns is that the top two primary will reduce participation and Washington could be one of many examples of that,” Seigel said.

Joseph Cornwell, vice chairman of the Libertarian Party of Oregon, said his counterparts in Washington oppose the new format because it makes it harder for third parties to access the general election ballot. “It’s not exciting,” he said. “It’s basically taking a choice away from the voters by pushing out any of the smaller parties.”

As it now stands, party members get to put their top choice forward — through the major parties’ May primaries and the minor parties’ nominating conventions. The Libertarians will hold their convention on Sunday in Portland while the Pacific-Greens will nominate candidates today in Eugene for the general election ballot.

The conventions assure minor-party access to the November ballot. But under the top two system, they’d appear on the primary ballot but would not necessarily go on to the general election.

“The important elections take place in the fall,” Cornwell said. “That’s when (people) look to see the lawn signs come out ... and start reading the voters’ pamphlet.”

Keisling warned against comparing Washington’s top two primary to “an idealized” Oregon system where every race is competitive.

This fall, for instance, no Republicans are even running for attorney general or the 4th Congressional District. Among the 76 legislative races on the ballot, 32 failed to draw candidates from both major parties. That includes six out of Lane County’s nine legislative races. If Washington’s primary produces a healthy number of two-candidate races, Keisling said, it would provide a good reason for Oregon to follow suit.