The Washington state Democratic Party will use the state’s 2020 presidential primary to allocate delegates to candidates instead of the precinct caucuses it has used in previous years.
The state party’s central committee voted 121-40 to start using a hybrid system that uses the state’s vote-by-mail system for a presidential primary to apportion delegates to candidates, and caucuses and conventions to select which delegates will represent the state at the national convention in Milwaukee.
Nearly 13,000 members of the public weighed in over the past month on which system they preferred, with more than 93 percent supporting the hybrid primary system. Washington has both a presidential primary and a caucus system.
Last month, Governor Jay Inslee, who is among a growing group of Democratic presidential contenders, signed a measure moving the presidential primary from May to the second Tuesday in March. In 2016, Republicans used the May primary to allocate delegates while Democrats ignored the primary results and opted for the precinct caucuses to divvy up delegates.
State Republicans have said they will continue to use the primary to allocate delegates in 2020. (AP)
