OLYMPIA - How do you decide who gets your vote for the Washington State Supreme Court?

Maybe you rely on the voter pamphlet. But in next month's primary, there will be no pamphlet because the Legislature didn't find the money and that could set the stage for a little bit of confusion, especially in one race.

This story begins with an Owens – Susan Owens, state Supreme Court justice, up for re-election.

Add to the story a Johnson – Stephen Johnson, long-time Republican state senator who decided to run against Owens: Owens vs. Johnson.

Some speculated that voters might just vote for Johnson. After all, the court already has two Johnsons – Charles and Jim.

"If there were three Johnsons on the court, what would that say?" asked Stephen Johnson, Washington Supreme Court candidate. "It would say we're the same as Minnesota, which apparently has three Andersons."

But if Johnson had a name advantage, it might been erased when someone named Michael Johnson added his name to the ballot.

Who is Michael Johnson?

We wanted to know and spent 4 hours at his law office Wednesday, but he refused to come out.

One of his co-workers told us this Johnson is raising no money, seeking no endorsements and wasn't prepared to talk. He did give us a glossy picture and told us to try again Thursday.

"I don't think the process, the elector process should be used for mischief," said Stephen Johnson.

"I was in Seattle when I heard that rumor and I was fit to be tied," said Owens.

Incumbent Justice Owens denies she or her campaign had anything to do with encouraging another Johnson to get in the race.

But one man says outright that his strategy is to take away votes from Stephen Johnson. His name is Richard Smith, an environmental lawyer who supports Democrats and third-party candidates.

He doesn't like the fact that the building industry is giving money to Stephen Johnson.

If adding a Smith to the ballot should help Owens…

"She seems to be a very well qualified candidate. I have nothing negative, I have no criticism of Justice Owens," said Richard Smith.

So we decided to conduct a statewide poll with SurveyUSA.

The winner is: Undecided 30 percent, Owens 28 percent, and around 10 percent, within the margin of error, Stephen Johnson, Smith, Michael Johnson and a fifth candidate, Norman Ericson, a state administrative judge who says all the partisan politics and name games have gone too far.

"Our state constitution and our election laws say this is to be a non-partisan race, that's to me a very basic legal principle," he said.

Don't put too much stock in the poll results. Our pollsters warn they surveyed 2,000 people and found most people aren't even sure if they'll vote in next month's primary and they aren't very familiar with the candidates.

And that's the point. Unless you look on the Web, there is no voter pamphlet, it's just names on a ballot.

Voters won't admit it, but sometimes they'll go with names that they think are familiar.