UPDATED: Ramifications of Top Two in the news

Unexpected consequences of the "Top Two" primary have been in the news lately here in Washington. The Olympian reported late last week on the PDC's dilemma over whether or not to suspend the enforcement of a law that requires political advertisements to state the party affiliation of a candidate running for partisan office.

The "top two" ballots do not require standard party affiliations, which may render the law moot, or at least unwieldy. After initially choosing to suspend the law, the PDC has decided it will wait until after the public could weigh in. Read the full story here.

Then today the Seattle Times weighs in on the handful of races across the state that appear to be headed for a scenario where two candidates who prefer the same party advance after the August 19 primary.

In the article Secretary of State Sam Reed predicts that, despite what looks to be a healthy crop of single-party general election races, the system will provide more competition and better candidates down the road.

"I really think it's going to be a healthy thing in the long run," Reed said.

UPDATE: Rich Roesler at the Spokesman-Review says that the meeting to postpone enforcement of some PDC laws last week included putting a hiatus on the law that bars candidates from falsely claiming to be an incumbent. That would mean that challengers can put "re-elect" on their yard signs without fear of legal punishment.