Oregon Public Broadcasting

Washington State voters have until this Saturday to register by mail or on-line to vote in the August 19th primary election. That’s also the deadline for updating your registration if you’ve moved.

Citizens not currently registered have until August 4th to register in person at their county auditor’s office. This year’s primary will decide at least one Supreme Court race and perhaps two. Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins explains.

The way it works is if a Supreme Court candidate gets more than fifty percent of the vote in the primary – he or she goes onto the general election unopposed.

That’s what will likely happen in the race that pits current Justice Mary Fairhurst against challenger Michael Bond.

The seat currently held by Justice Charles Johnson is a three-way race. That makes it less likely that one candidate will get more than half the votes – but it’s still possible.

Mark Johnson is the president-elect of the Washington State Bar Association. He says if voters want to have a say in the Supreme Court races – they should vote in the primary.

Mark Johnson: “Most of our Supreme Court races are decided in the primary – so that’s the general election. Our Supreme Court justices – it is the only branch of government that has the power to declare acts by the other two branches unconstitutional so these are extremely important positions.”

The third seat up for election has Justice Debra Stephens running unopposed.