Political parties in Washington

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Although there are hundreds of political parties in the United States, only certain parties qualify to have the names of their candidates for office printed on election ballots. In order to qualify for ballot placement, a party must meet certain requirements that vary from state to state. For example, in some states, a party may have to file a petition in order to qualify for ballot placement. In other states, a party must organize around a candidate for a specific office; that candidate must, in turn, win a percentage of the vote in order for the party to be granted ballot status. In still other states, an aspiring political party must register a certain number of voters.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Because Washington utilizes a top-two, nonpartisan primary system, the state does not officially recognize political parties.
  • In some states, a candidate may choose to have a label other than that of an officially recognized party appear alongside his or her name on the ballot. Such labels are called political party designations. Washington allows candidates to use political party designations.
  • To learn more about ballot access requirements for political parties in Washington, see this article.

    Political parties[edit]

    See also: List of political parties in the United States

    As of December 2021, the two largest political parties in Washington were the Democratic and Republican parties. The top-two primary system, however, is a nonpartisan primary, which allows a candidate to select any party designation to appear next to his or her name on the ballot.

    Party Website link By-laws/platform link
    Democratic Party of Washington Link Party by-laws
    Republican Party of Washington Link Party by-laws

    See also[edit]

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    Footnotes[edit]


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