Soon it can be told: Did voters get what they bargained for in 2004 when they avenged the political parties’ assassination of the beloved but unconstitutional blanket primary?

Initiative 872, passed four years ago but on hold until earlier this year, is finally coming into its own with the debut of the “top two” primary on Tuesday. And voters are finally getting the chance to see what they have wrought.

The initiative was an attempt to reinstate the 68-year tradition of allowing voters to skip back and forth across party lines in the primary election.

But to pass legal muster, I-872 had to neuter the primary election. No longer could the primary be about electing standard bearers for every party on the ballot; it had to be about electing candidates, political affiliation be damned.

Thus the top two system in which not only can voters crisscross the ballot, but two members of the same party can also advance to the general election. It’s the blanket primary one-upped.

We predict the electorate is in for a shock. Top two restores broad choice in this month’s election, but at the expense of the main event in November.

Voters in Seattle and Eastern Washington are likely to see general-election runoffs between two Ds or two Rs, respectively. And Republicans could be watching the only open statewide race – the one for state treasurer – from the sidelines come November if the hype of this being a big Democratic year proves true.

The potential for screwy general-election pairings in Pierce County is mitigated somewhat by a debut of our own: instant runoff voting.

Most county races skip the primary election this year and head straight to the general, where a crowded slate of candidates will duke it out for voters’ first, second and third preferences. State elections officials touring the state to explain the top two primary have got nothing on the voter education hurdle facing Pierce County elections workers.

But state officials are up against another kind of pressure: scrutiny from political parties that are none too happy that top two allows anyone to call themselves a Democrat or a Republican (or a Progressive or Libertarian or a Salmon Yogi).

Party officials will be watching for signs that voters are confused about which candidates have the parties’ blessing. The U.S. Supreme Court, in giving the go-ahead for the top two primary, left open the possibility that such confusion would violate the protections against forced association.

Voters, if they want to keep their new primary, won’t give the parties fodder for such a challenge.