The 2024 presidential primary ballot in Washington State is set to include three names on the Democratic side, Secretary of State Hobbs’ office announced today, acknowledging the receipt of a list of names from the Democratic Party.
“Candidate lists are now complete for the statewide March 12th Presidential Primary ballot. The state Democratic Party submitted three candidate names: Joseph R. Biden Jr., Dean Phillips, and Marianne Williamson,” OSOS announced.
The Washington State Democratic Party confirmed the submission in a news release and pointed out there will be a fourth option, which will allow voters who wish to identify with the Democratic Party to vote “uncommitted.”
“Washingtonians across our state are motivated to defeat Donald Trump and expand on our state’s Democratic-led success,” said Washington State Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad. “We’re excited that our party has administered a fair and Democratic primary process, and we expect the March 12th primary will prove that Washington Democrats are ready for yet another year of record electoral victory in 2024.”
“Democrats have delivered since winning back the White House, from historic investments into nearly every county in Washington with the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to lowering insulin payments for the estimated 500,000 Washingtonians with diabetes — Washington Democrats are fired up for four more years!”
The Democratic ballot will look like this:
- Joseph R. Biden Jr.
- Dean Phillips
- Marianne Williamson
- Uncommitted Delegates
Last week, the Republican Party submitted five names for its side of the presidential primary ballot: Donald Trump, Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Vivek R. Once submitted, names cannot be removed from the ballot, so even if some candidates drop out, their names will remain.
As mentioned here last week, RCW 29A.56.031 is the state statute governing placement of names onto the presidential primary ballot.
The current statute, which NPI was involved in developing, makes it the responsibility of the major parties to draw up a list of names for the presidential primary ballot out of respect for their First Amendment right of free assembly.
The presidential primary is what’s known in state legal parlance as a special circumstances election. However, in reality, it’s not an election at all, but rather a nominating event that will influence the allocation of delegates to the Democratic and Republican national conventions this summer.
The actual votes for the parties’ nominees will be cast in Milwaukee (for the Republicans) and in Chicago (for the Democrats) by national convention delegates elected from all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.
If you’re a Washington voter, you’ll be sent a ballot in a few weeks that will have a Democratic column and a Republican column. If you wish to participate, you must vote for only one candidate from one party, and you must attest that you understand that by participating in that party’s primary, you are choosing to affiliate with that party — at least for the moment in time that you cast your ballot.
The attestations will be worded as follows:
“I declare that my party preference is the Democratic Party and I will not participate in the nomination process of any other political party for the 2024 Presidential election.”
“I declare that my party preference is the Republican Party and I will not participate in the nomination process of any other political party for the 2024 Presidential election.”
The attestations are identical except for the names of the parties.
When you vote for a candidate in the presidential primary, you are expressing a preference as to which person you want one of the major parties to nominate. If enough voters share your preference, the candidate you like will receive an allotment of delegates to the national convention from Washington. You can help influence who becomes a delegate, too, if you’re interested, by going to a caucus. And if you’d like to be a delegate yourself, you can throw your hat in the ring.
After the primary is certified, the major parties will receive a list of names of everyone who voted in the presidential primary. How you voted is a secret; the fact that you voted and which party you affiliated with is disclosable.
For even more details on the presidential primary and what to expect, see last week’s post on the Republican Party’s submission of names, which much of the information above is drawn from. Feel free to ask a question in the comments.
Military and overseas ballots for the March 12th presidential primary are due to be mailed out on January 27th. Ballots to in-state voters will follow on February 23rd.
