California Democratic Party, et al. v. Bill Jones, Secretary of State of California, et al. (530 U.S. 567)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 26, 2000 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 530 U.S. 567 · 120 S. Ct. 2402
- Decided
- June 26, 2000
- Term
- October Term 1999
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority author
- Justice Scalia
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
- Constitutional ruling
- State/territorial law held unconstitutional
Opinion excerpt
Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court. This ease presents the question whether the State of California may, consistent with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, use a so-called “blanket” primary to determine a political party’s nominee for the general election. I Under California law, a candidate for public office has two routes to gain access to the general ballot for most state and federal elective offices. He may receive the nomination of a qualified political party by winning its primary, see Cal. Elec. Code Ann. §§15451, 13105(a) (West 1996); or he may-file as an independent by obtaining (for a statewide race) the signatures of one percent of the State’s electorate or (for other races) the signatures of three percent of the voting population of the area represented by the office in contest, see §8400. Until 1996, to determine the nominees of qualified parties California held what is known as a “closed” partisan primary, in which only persons who are members of the political party — i. e., who have declared affiliation with that party when they register to vote, see Cal. Elec. Code Ann. §§2150, 2151 (West 1996 and Supp. 2000) — can vote on its nominee, see Cal. Elec. Code Ann. §2151 (West 1996). In 1996 the citizens of California adopted by initiative Proposition 198. Promoted largely as a measure that would “weaken” party “hard-liners” and…
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