The Strange Primary Trap Facing Tacoma Democrats
Without a candidate on the ballot, local Democrats face a choice between voting for Republicans or being effectively disenfranchised.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Second ward Democrats will vote at the Republican primaries a week from tomorrow. This is one of the peculiar things enforced on citizens by the primary law. Democrats will have to vote for Republicans or be disenfranchised. No Democrat filed for the nomination in this ward, and the chances for election are not good, so no one cared to contribute $10 to the city for nothing. This leaves the Republican nomination equivalent to election. Every Democrat in the ward who is registered has expressed himself as determined to vote at the primaries. He will simply enter the polling place, call for a Republican ballot, and select the candidate of his choice. There is no Democratic candidate in the First or Seventh ward either, but there is only one candidate on the Republican ticket in those wards. Republican judges may attempt to stop Democrats from voting at the primaries, but this they cannot do. All the Democrat has to do is to declare his intention of voting the Republican ticket at the election, and he must be given a Republican ballot.
“This is one of the peculiar things enforced on citizens by the primary law. Democrats will have to vote for republicans or be disenfranchised.”
Early 20th-century primary laws often turned local elections into bureaucratic puzzles, forcing party members into awkward political alliances. Today, Tacoma's open primary systems have largely removed these hurdles, though the tension between party loyalty and electoral necessity remains a perennial feature of civic life.
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