The top-two primary in Washington State

In August 2008, Washington State advanced its new primary system, known as the top-two primary. This system gave voters more choice of candidates running for office, excluding those running for president or vice president; and those running for nonpartisan offices(judicial, municipal, fire district, school board). The top-two primary allowed voters to choose among all candidates running for office and did not require voters to declare a party affiliation to vote. Anyone interested was able to put his or her name forward as a candidate. As long as the candidate received at least 1 percent of the total votes cast in a particular race, the top two candidates—regardless of party affiliation—who received the most votes in the primary moved on to the general election in November