Back on March 11, this blog noted that a California voter had filed a federal lawsuit to test whether John McCain is a “natural-born” citizen. The attorney who filed that case withdrew it on April 18. An attorney for the California Republican Party, one of the defendants, suggested to the man who filed the lawsuit that his lawsuit might be considered frivolous. Another factor in the decision to drop the lawsuit was the fact that the U.S. Senate voted unanimously in favor of a resolution saying McCain is a natural-born citizen.

As noted in a post of July 7, the Washington State Democratic Party had asked the state of Washington not to hold a “top-two” primary next month. The Washington Republican Party made a somewhat similar request, also on July 7. The Republican Party’s letter to the Attorney General says, “By now you have received and had an opportunity to review the 9th Circuit order from July 3, filed also with the District Court for the Western District of Washington. As we have previously advised you: This litigation is not over. No court has vacated the injunction entered by the district court in July, 2005. The injunction against implementing the Modified Blanket Primary is still in effect. Conducting a Modified Blanket Primary in August will be a willful violation of the injunction. In addition to violating the injunction, issuing certificates of nomination to candidates who receive the most votes will constitute an ‘error’ in the administration of the election because the Open Primary is still the law of Washington. Please confirm immediately that the State will adhere to the terms of the injunction, and conduct its August primary in accordance with the Open Primary law.”

This letter is very similar to the Democratic Party’s letter, except for terminology. The Democratic Party’s letter calls the primary the “Top-two primary” but the Republican Party’s letter refers to it as a “Modified Blanket Primary.”

On July 7, the attorney for the Washington state Democratic Party sent this letter to the Washington Attorney General:

“Last Thursday all counsel received an order from the 9th Circuit requesting supplemental briefing in connection with the State’s pending appeal of the injunction against implementation of I-872 that was entered by Judge Zilly in 2005. As is evident, the appeals of the State and Grange have not been fully resolved. The State has not requested Judge Zilly to modify his earlier injunction.

“When Secretary of State Reed first proposed to implement the Top Two Primary via emergency powers and without regard to Judge Zilly’s injunction, the Democratic Party responded on April 22, 2008 by noting: ‘It seems to us that it would have been better had you decided to wait until Judge Zilly had decided how to modify the existing injunction related to I-872 and then determined what, if any, steps to implement I-872 in 2008 would be appropriate. We hope that you will reconsider whether you have committed the resources of your office in a prudent fashion in connection with I-872.’

“Unfortunately, the Secretary elected to continue on his course of action asserting that the challenge to I-872 had been fully resolved. The 9th Circuit’s order confirms that the litigation pending since 2005 is not over. The injunction entered in that case against implementing I-872 is still in effect. The State has made no effort to modify or vacate it. Proceeding with the planned August primaries and November elections in violation of this injunction will expose all of the results to challenge, potentially wasting significant taxpayer resources on elections that have to be redone.

“We urge you once again to reconsider the course of action the State is taking and continue to follow the existing Open (Montana) Primary law until such time, if ever, as the validity of I-872 is fully and finally upheld.”