On September 6, the Ninth Circuit issued an en banc opinion in Public Integrity Alliance v City of Tucson, 15-16142. The decision upholds Tucson’s method of electing city councilmembers. Tucson has partisan elections. In the primary, each ward nominates someone. Then all party nominees, as well as independent candidate, run at-large.

The original panel of the Ninth Circuit had voted 2-1 that this system is unconstitutional, but the city asked for a rehearing before all the active judges of the Ninth Circuit, and that en banc panel has now reversed the original Ninth Circuit opinion. Here is the 19-page opinion, which says that the system treats all voters equally and that there is nothing in the Constitution saying that party selection processes must match the system used in the election itself. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.