Seattle judge OKs ballot with 'GOP' Rossi

GOP is A-OK for Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi.

A King County Superior Court judge on Friday rejected an attempt by Democrats to force the secretary of state's office to identify Rossi as "Republican" on November's ballot. Rossi, who's challenging Democratic incumbent Gov. Chris Gregoire, is instead listed as preferring the "GOP party" - a reference to the longtime party nickname, the Grand Old Party.

Judge Richard Eadie acknowledged that Rossi's decision to use "GOP" could create some confusion among voters, but there's nothing in state law that prevents a candidate from using a party's nickname on the ballot.

And, he said, the greater evil would be to use two different ballots in the same election. Some military members have already voted using absentee ballots in which Rossi is listed as preferring the GOP; if the "GOP" listing is invalid, those votes could be challenged, Eadie said.

Jim Pharris, a lawyer for Secretary of State Sam Reed, was relieved, and the Democrats said they would not appeal.

"We were terribly worried about the disruption it would cause if we had to change the ballots at this point," Pharris said.

Jeff Smith, the husband of the late state Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Marchioro, filed his lawsuit as a voter on Tuesday, saying Rossi was trying to mask his affiliation with the party of an unpopular president.

His lawyer, Kevin Hamilton, argued Friday that state law says candidates shall list their major party preference, minor party preference or no preference, with nothing in the law permitting the use of party nicknames.

Hamilton also said polling has shown confusion among some voters over what "GOP" means, and that was important enough to justify the inconvenience of reprinting ballots.

A survey by independent pollster Stuart Elway this month found Gregoire had a 10 point advantage over a "Republican" Rossi but a 4 point advantage when Rossi was listed as "prefers GOP party," a difference that was not statistically significant given the survey's margin of error. In June, another Elway poll found that 7 percent of all respondents thought GOP referred to the Democratic Party, and 18 percent of Republicans polled didn't know "GOP" meant "Republican."

"Administrative convenience does not trump the people's paramount right to a clear and correct ballot," Hamilton said, noting that if the ballots were accidentally printed in Chinese, the state would find a way to fix them even this close to the election.

David Ammons, a spokesman for Reed's office, said many counties have finished printing their ballots. King County, the state's most populous, would have to pay 42 cents to replace each of the 300,000 it has already printed.

Lawyers for Reed's office, the Republican Party and the Washington State Grange, which helped create Washington's top two primary system, all noted it would be difficult to change the wording. But they said their real argument was that "GOP" means "Republican," as it has for more than a century.

Pharris said he was "flabbergasted" anyone could be confused about that.

"There is no error here," he said. "I didn't know there was anyone over the age of 6 who didn't know 'GOP' meant 'Republican.'"

The top two primary was approved by voters in 2004 as Initiative 872. The top two vote getters advance to the general election, regardless of party, and all candidates for partisan office are allowed to indicate their party preference on the ballot.

State GOP Chairman Luke Esser insisted Rossi is proud to be a Republican and used "GOP" merely because that's what he has used on previous ballots and on many bumper stickers and advertisements. He called the lawsuit a political stunt to divert attention from real issues in the campaign, including Gregoire's record and a projected $3.2 billion budget deficit.

And with only two people running for governor - one of them a Democrat - it shouldn't be hard to figure out the other's a Republican, Esser said.

Hamilton said the lawsuit had a legitimate goal - to help clarify the ballot - but added that the media coverage had the happy side effect of publicizing what he described as Rossi's efforts to "cloak" his membership in the Republican Party.

"It helps crack the code," Hamilton said.