IS $10 MILLION worth it? How about $526,000 a delegate?
And the voters of Washington state asked for it.
Welcome to the Feb. 19 Washington state presidential preference primary.
You may have already received your invitation in the mail.
Primary ballots were dispatched Wednesday statewide, including 20,518 in Jefferson County and to more than 43,000 Clallam voters.
That single ballot — or two ballots, one for each party, if you live in Jefferson County — is costing you and the rest of the state’s taxpayers $10 million.
You also have to declare your loyalty as a Republican or Democrat for your vote to count.
But only if you’re a Republican does your vote count — well, sorta.
That’s because the primary vote will only count toward 21 Republican delegates that will be chosen for the Republican National Convention Sept. 1-4 in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
The state’s other 19 Republican delegates will be decided by those who participate in Feb. 9 party caucuses.
You can attend a Feb. 9 caucus, too, essentially casting your vote twice, but you can’t switch your party allegiance.
The state Democratic Party could care less about the primary. They like their caucuses.
On caucus day, all 97 Democratic delegates will be decided at the Democratic Party gatherings.
The $10 million we’re paying for the primary pencils out to $526,000 for each Republican delegate.
State taxpayers pay for the primary and reimburse counties for the cost.
The primary will cost an estimated $55,000 in Jefferson County and $90,000 in Clallam.
The Clallam ballot includes a Joyce-area Crescent School District levy election that will not be reimbursed.
Of the $90,000 bill, Crescent school officials will reimburse the county about $3,000 for the levy election, Clallam County Auditor Patty Rosand said Wednesday.
She and Jefferson County Auditor Donna Eldridge said voters remain confused about our state’s primary-caucus system, from the party loyalty oaths they must sign to what it’s costing them as taxpayers.
“I’m not sure they are really aware the state is going to pay so much” for the primary, Rosand said Wednesday.
Voters may have only themselves to blame for our circuitous system, and they can thank televangelist Pat Robertson for lighting the fire.
Until 20 years ago, Washington’s parties chose their delegates to the national conventions only by party caucuses.
These are rousing affairs held at schools, community halls and private homes at the same time and date throughout the state.
A wrinkle in our system presented itself in 1988 in the form of Pat Robertson.
His supporters converged on the state’s Republican gatherings, dominating the caucuses and county conventions.
Later that year voters, afraid of interest-group politics dominating future caucuses, signed an initiative asking the Legislature to establish a presidential primary.
The following year, lawmakers made it so.
The law asserts that a caucus “unnecessarily” restricts participation “in that it discriminates against the elderly, the infirm, women, the disabled, evening workers and others who are unable to attend . . . “
Discriminates against women? Anyway, parties still get to choose whether to use caucuses, primaries, or a combination of the two when selecting delegates for their national conventions. That didn’t change.
Twenty years later, the caucuses still reign supreme in Washington — and you and I are paying $10 million for a primary that has little impact.
“Caucuses are a grass-roots exercise,” state Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz told me.
“The primary is a $10 million publicly funded public opinion poll.
“The state is spending an awful lot of money to choose Republican delegates.”
His counterpart on the Republican side sees things differently.
“It’s been our position that our primary voters have meaningful input in selecting our next president,” state Republican Party Chair Luke Esser said in an interview.
“The Democrats continue to make zero effort.”
Just last year, “to try to save $10 million,” the state Legislature tried getting rid of the primary, said state Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, who represents Clallam, Jefferson and part of Gray Harbor counties.
“People were really upset,” said Kessler, the House majority leader.
“They really believe they should have the right to vote.
“The problem is they didn’t realize the parties have the power to count their vote or not count their vote.”
Do voters have only themselves to blame for their primary push back in 1988?
“We went along with it,” Kessler said. “You can’t say they should only blame themselves.”
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Paul Gottlieb is editor of the Peninsula Daily News’ Commentary page; 360-417-3536, e-mail: paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
