OLYMPIA, Wash. - Washington state will move its presidential primary up three months, to Feb. 19, in hopes of generating a surge of public interest after the broader round of "Super Tuesday" primaries two weeks earlier.

A committee of lawmakers and political party officials and Secretary Sam Reed decided unanimously Monday to move the primary up from its previous date in May. Most of the state's counties have switched to all-mail voting, and ballots for those voters will be in the mail by Feb. 1, the secretary of state's office said.

The new date, the same as Wisconsin's primary, "gives us a chance to respect the process, and at the same time make this primary meaningful," said Rep. Gary Alexander, R-Olympia.

However, only the votes of Washingtonians taking the Republican ballot actually will make a difference.

As in years past, the state Democratic Party will ignore the results of the statewide vote and instead use precinct caucuses to allocate its 80 national convention delegates. Another 17 Democratic delegates will be "super-delegates," elected officials and high party officers who are free to back the candidate of their choice at the conventions.

State Republicans also will caucus Feb. 9, but they plan to incorporate the statewide primary as well, tying 51 percent of GOP convention delegates to the results of the statewide vote.

Of the party's 40 delegates to the Republican National Convention, three are "super-delegates" and 37 are elected. Nineteen of the elected delegates will be allocated based on the primary and 18 on caucuses.

Both Democrats and Republicans have scheduled their caucuses Feb. 9, with the results to be later confirmed at district, county and state conventions between April and June.

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said she wished the state party rules were different, and would allow the use of the primary.

"I'd like to see them both count," she said. "They both represent an interesting part of the process."

State Democratic Party leader Dwight Pelz said he expects a strong turnout at the caucuses, which he said provide truer, grass roots representation.

"I think after Super Tuesday, there's going to be tremendous interest in what's happening in Washington state," Pelz said. "We anticipate our party's candidates getting on planes and coming out here because ... they're going to be looking at the next contest, and we are the next big contest."

Candidates have already been coming to the state, with Democrat Barack Obama the most recent visitor during a stop in Seattle, and Democratic rivals John Edwards, Bill Richardson and Chris Dodd also passing through. On the Republican side, only John McCain has made a stop, and Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani are expected within the next 10 days.

Iowa will hold the first caucuses Jan. 14. Nevada follows with its caucuses Jan. 19. New Hampshire has the first primary on Jan. 22, followed by Florida, which just moved its date up to Jan. 29, and South Carolina's Democratic primary, also on Jan. 29. South Carolina has its GOP primary Feb. 2. All other states will make their selections on Feb. 5 and thereafter.

"Let's face it, we're gambling," Reed said. "We're gambling that it's not going to be over on the 5th."

But if it isn't, "Washington state will get some attention.

"This could be really the perfect time," he said.

Washington's primary was created in 1989 through an initiative to the Legislature. It was first scheduled in 1992, and Democrats have never used the outcome to allocate delegates. Republicans have used it to varying degrees over the years.

Lawmakers canceled the primary in 2004, when only the Democratic nomination was contested. An effort in this year's legislative session to cancel the 2008 primary died in committee.

The Democratic National Convention will be the last week of August 2008 in Denver. St. Paul, Minn., will host the Republican National Convention the first week of September 2008.