Federal District Court Grants Summary Judgment for Washington State in Remand of Washington State Grange Case

Via Ballot Access News comes a link to this opinion issued by the federal district court on remand in the Washington State Grange case. As I expected, the court rejected the arguments that the top two primary was unconstitutional, either because it confused voters into thinking the top-two primary was a party primary or for other reasons (such as by analogy to trademark claims). The Supreme Court's earlier opinion, while not dictating this result, certainly suggested the parties would have a hard time showing confusion if, as Washington State does, the official ballot materials make clear that voters are not voting in a party primary.

An appeal is apparently coming but I would not bet any money on the parties getting a reversal in the Ninth Circuit or Supreme Court (except perhaps a temporary win on grounds that the issue of confusion was more suitably addressed at trial rather than through summary judgment).

Posted by Rick Hasen at January 11, 2011 10:17 PM