July 15, 2005 -- A Federal District Court judge today ruled the top-two primary, enacted when voters overwhelmingly approved Washington State Grange-sponsored Initiative 872, violates the free association rights of Washington’s political parties and is therefore unconstitutional.

“We are obviously disappointed by the decision,” said Washington State Grange President Terry Hunt. “The U.S. Supreme Court indicated in 2000 that states could create top-two primaries that would be independent and not interfere with the association rights of political parties. The initiative was drafted to meet that standard.”

The District Court concluded that because I-872 allowed candidates to designate a political party preference on the ballot, it did not meet all of the requirements of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2000.

The Grange will appeal the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court, and vows to continue its efforts to preserve voter choice.

“We know that top-two primaries can be constitutional and we know that the voters in Washington want a primary in which they can vote for any candidate for each office,” said Hunt. “The Grange will continue to work to create that kind of primary and defend it from attacks by the political parties.”

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