In a victory for common sense over attempts to reinstate hoary Washington state tradition, a U.S. District Judge has ruled the "top-two" primary system, voted in by initiative last November, unconstitutional. In his decision, Judge Thomas Zilly pointed out that
it infringed on the rights of political parties to pick their own nominees for office. [Source]
Judge Zilly's ruling arose from a lawsuit filed by the Washington State Republican Party, joined by the Democratic and Libertarian parties. The GOP and Dems had agreed that the former should file first this time; in an earlier lawsuit that invalidated the state's long-used "blanket primary" system, the original filer had been the Democrats.
A quick look at the AP reports about Judge Zilly's decision indicates to me that he found for the plaintiffs (the three parties) on virtually every aspect of their arguments. For example, he also ruled that
the state cannot allow voters to skip back and forth along party lines as they pick a favorite candidate for each office. Nor can it allow candidates to identify themselves by party without that party's approval
I'm sure there will be a tremendous hue-and-cry from Washingtonians about upsetting dearly-held traditions. Too bad ... tradition means nothing if it's unconstitutional.
Oh, as for the inevitable "activist judges" crapola -- Judge Zilly was appointed in 1988, by Reagan.
All in all, a victory for common sense.
Update [2005-7-15 19:25:56 by N in Seattle]: The text of Judge Zilly's decision is available from the website of one of the losing defendants. What delicious irony -- the Democratic and Republican parties together on the same side of the case, against the state government, King County Elections, and (the true villain in this case) the Washington State Grange on the other side.