Read a Pacific Northwest, liberal perspective on world, national, and local politics. From majestic Redmond, Washington - the Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Surprise: SCOTUS will rule on primary

This wasn't expected, but it isn't necessarily unfortunate:
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear arguments on the state's appeal of a federal appellate court's decision last year striking down Initiative 872, the top-two primary ballot measure.
Proponents of the ridiculous "Top Two" primary system are all saying that they're excited the Supreme Court has taken the case.

They should temper their enthusiasm.

They haven't won anything yet. If they lose - and they're likely to - the door will be slammed for good on that lousy system that no other state, save for maybe Louisiana, uses. The leaders of both the state Republican and Democratic parties have expressed confidence that the Supreme Court of the United States will uphold the lower court rulings invalidating the "Top Two" primary.

Said Chairman Dwight Pelz:
"I'm confident that once our case is made, the Supreme Court will follow in the lower courts' footsteps and uphold the right of political parties to choose their own nominees."
The case will not be argued until this October, meaning the open primary will thankfully stay in place for its fourth consecutive year no matter what. The open primary is a reasonable system that preserves political parties' Constitutional rights while allowing voters to select the nominees.

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