As a Political Science major, I love election season. It's like draft season for sports fans. It's literally draft season for our country. *I just laughed out loud at my terrible joke here* Anyway, Washingtonians here's everything you need to know about the primary on the May 24 and why it's important.

For this election only you have to declare your political party.

The question is, why? Washington has always had an open primary. This means you can vote for either candidate, regardless of the party you affiliate with. According to the Secretary of State website, "The political parties retain the authority to decide if they will use the Presidential Primary to allocate delegates to the national nomination conventions. The political parties may also use caucus results, or a combination of primary results and caucus results. The Republican Party will use the Presidential Primary results to allocate 100 percent of their convention delegates. The Democratic Party will not use the Primary Election results to allocate any of their delegates. They will rely solely on the results of their Precinct Caucuses on March 26." So basically, if you're a Republican it matters, if you're a Democrat it doesn't. Go figure.

It's actually not that complicated...

Lucky for all us voters, the State is helpful and included these lovely directions for us. (Although they're a bit condescending... but I'll take it)

It's actually super, super easy.

All you have to do is mark either "Democrat" or "Republican" on the envelope. Easy as pie. Unless you're a Republican and you're voting for Trump, then maybe announcing your affiliation to the mailman isn't the best idea.

Your part choice will be removed from your voter registration record after 60 days.

This means that Washington will then continue to abide by its original open primary system, and your major political party affiliation will not affect future elections, etc.

Why in heck are Ben Carson and others still on the ballot?

Ben Carson publicly suspended his campaign on March 4; however, the candidate did not submit a Withdrawal of Candidacy. The other two on the Republican side, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, are still on the ballot because they were printed before their official withdrawals.

Washington, it's your chance to vote and determine who our nominations for President of the United States in 2016 will be. Please choose wisely. *crosses fingers vigorously*