On January 24, U.S. District Court Judge Catherine Eagles asked both sides in North Carolina Democratic Party v Berger to submit short briefs discussing the U.S. Supreme Court decision from 2008 concerning Washington state’s top-two system. The order says, “The Court would appreciate short briefs less than 5 pages on whether and how the Supreme Court’s decision in Washington State Grange v Washington State Republican Party, 552 US 442 (2008) should affect the analysis in this case, particularly as to whether the plaintiffs have associational rights that are burdened by Section 4(a).” Such briefs are due January 26, Friday, at noon.

In Washington State Grange v Washington State Republican Party, the U.S. Supreme Court said that it an open question whether a party’s associational rights are harmed when a state prints party labels on the ballot, but those candidates aren’t party nominees. The Supreme Court said more evidence is needed, to learn if ordinary voters would be confused by party labels, into thinking that parties have nominees.

In the North Carolina case, the law says party labels should be on the November ballot for judicial candidates, but because primaries for judicial office have been abolished (for 2018 only), parties won’t have nominees. The forthcoming briefs should be very interesting reading for persons interested in political parties.