On July 29, Washington state, and the Grange, asked the 9th circuit to overturn the U.S. District Court ruling that the “top-two” primary violates the associational rights of political parties.
Also on July 29, the U.S. District Court issued its final order in the case, with details on how this year’s partisan elections will be held. The U.S. District Court did not grant a special Republican Party request. The Republican Party now has a bylaw, saying no one can have the word “Republican” on the Republican primary ballot, if that person did not get at least 25% of the vote at party endorsement meetings before the primary. Judge Zilly did not grant the party’s wish; he simply ignored it. Zilly did extend the petition deadline for minor party and independent candidates in this year’s partisan elections to August 27.
Similar to the Republican request the Libertarian Party of Washington, an intervenor in the suit, had requested the right to require candidates claiming to be “Libertarian” to actually be members of the Libertarian Party, meaning persons who have endorsed the Libertarian Party non-aggression pledge. The Republicans have asked the judge for a status conference to determine whether the judge wants to decide the issue.