Bring elections back to the people

There they go again. Chris Vance and Paul Berendt, chairmen respectively of the state Republican and Democratic parties, can't stop trying to wrest control of the state's primary election from the people. Now they're trying to tinker with Washington's new primary, approved overwhelmingly by voters in November.

They should just leave the elections to the people.

The whole mess started when the parties sued the state because they wanted Washington's blanket primary declared unconstitutional. Voters used to choose among all candidates and all parties, and the top Republican and top Democratic vote-getter advanced.

The party bosses didn't like Democrats picking Republicans, and vice versa. They won their lawsuit, and last September, for the first time in 70 years, Washington primary voters were confined to candidates from only their chosen party.

People hated it so much that, two months later, voters adopted by initiative a primary that is all but blind to party. Next September, voters will go back to choosing among all candidates for a political office. The top two highest vote-getters advance, regardless of their party.

It's not the good old popular blanket primary. But it returns control of who gets on the general election ballot to the people, rather than the extremes of the party.

Vance and Berendt still are bothered candidates can indicate their own party preference for the ballot. The parties want only candidates who have received the party's official imprimatur to be able to use the party label on the ballot.

The Republican Party is suing to force county officials to honor their wishes, and the Democrats are expected to intervene. State officials are skeptical they will be able to win. In the meantime, the parties will convene county caucuses and conventions to nominate candidates.

They can convene all they want, but the result will amount to nothing more than an endorsement. Washington voters have embraced a "qualifying" primary and rejected the parties' nominating primary — the parties should respect them.

If Vance, Berendt and their party cronies don't like it, they have only themselves to blame.