Washington state will release official election returns, for the primary of August 7, on August 21. It appears that turnout will be 38.4% of registered voters, the lowest turnout on record for any Washington primary in a gubernatorial election year in history.

All the statewide state executive offices, and all the Congressional races, in November, will be between one Republican and one Democrat. The only minor party candidates who will appear on the November ballot for any state or congress are two state legislative candidates, who ran in districts in which only one major party member ran. At the August primary, the Green Party candidate in the primary, Howard Pellett, running against a Democrat in the 40th district, received 21.5%, placing second. The Socialist Alternative Party candidate in the primary, Kshama Sawant, running against a Democrat in the 43rd district, received 9.1%, placing second.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has this article about the challenge to the Constitution Party and Libertarian Party statewide petitions. Although the article is fairly long, it makes no mention of the pending federal lawsuit that seeks to overturn the system.

On August 17, U.S. District Court Judge Donovan W. Frank, a Clinton appointee, upheld Minnesota’s law that permits unregistered individuals to register to vote on election day. The case is Minnesota Voters Alliance v Ritchie, cv-12-519. The plaintiffs had argued that the U.S. Constitution is violated by the policy, because it is too easy for unqualified individuals to vote. Here is the 22-page opinion. Plaintiffs say they will appeal on an emergency basis.

The judge also upheld Minnesota’s policy of letting certain individuals vote even though they have a conservator or guardian. The plaintiffs had argued that the Minnesota Constitution does not permit such individuals to vote. See this news story. Thanks to the Brad Blog for the link to the opinion.