State presidential primary is exciting, but many won’t like the rules | Editorial

After decades of being relegated to the sidelines, Washington state voters are about to get some real playing time in the March 10 presidential primary election.

Unfortunately, when the chance comes, we suspect many will decide the game’s not for them.

That’s because in order to participate, voters will have to declare themselves a Democrat or Republican — even if it is just for that moment. Those who can’t bring themselves to check either box on the ballot will be left out.

And that’s a shame because this year’s presidential primary likely will be more meaningful than ever before.

In the past, Washington’s presidential primary election was the fourth Tuesday in May. The date was so late our voters were the political stragglers.

Last time was especially disappointing. By the time Washington state voters got a chance to weigh in on the nominating process, Donald Trump was the only Republican left in the GOP race.

And state Democrats had already picked Bernie Sanders from their caucus meetings. They allocated all their delegates to him, and ignored that Hillary Clinton was the pick in the statewide primary election.

It was a futile, $12 million exercise.

Now, after years of effort by Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman, the state’s presidential primary has been moved up, giving Washington voters some status in the game.

President Donald Trump will be the only Republican nominee, but the Democrats’ side is riveting.

Wyman has certified 13 Democrats for the ballot. They are Michael Bennet, Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, Deval Patrick, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang.

For the first time, state Democrats are going to rely solely on the results from the presidential primary instead of the traditional caucus system.

As it turns out, the decision is part of a national trend. Democrats will hold caucuses in four states this year, compared with 18 held in states and territories in 2016.

As exciting as the process is, we know a number of people will be frustrated by the requirement to pick a party before they vote — especially since their choice will be made public.

Party preference will be removed from registration records after 60 days, but that is plenty of time for political groups to check through the data.

Unfortunately, the thought of strangers culling names from those records may be enough to keep hard-core Independents from voting.

Last year, when state lawmakers debated moving Washington’s presidential primary from late May to early March, Wyman pushed to give voters the option of declaring themselves “unaffiliated.”

Under the proposal, the “unaffiliated” votes would be tallied separately, and it would be up to the political parties to decide if they would consider those votes when they allocate their delegates to the national convention.

It was a smart option, and would have been a welcome choice for those who consider themselves independent of either party.

Wyman’s suggestion was in the original bill. Regrettably, it did not remain in the final version, which we think was a mistake.

But as with many changes, we sometimes have to accept improvements one at a time.

Moving the presidential primary election to the second Tuesday in March took years to accomplish, and it is an important step in giving Washington voters more clout.

We suggest after this year, depending on public reaction, lawmakers re-consider Wyman’s initial suggestion to allow “unaffiliated” voters to participate.

Washington state’s presidential primary election would be even better if everyone could feel good about playing the game.