Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Reevaluating The Constitutionality Of Blanket Primaries, Soren J. Schmidt

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

I argue that the Supreme Court’s ruling in California Democratic Party v. Jones should be reconsidered and overturned, allowing states to adopt blanket-primary election systems. Given the crucial role that primaries play in the public process of elections, parties’ rights of association should not trump the right of the people to select their own representatives. In Jones, the Court applied a stricter constitutional test than necessary, leading to an erroneous conclusion. I demonstrate why a more flexible test would have been more appropriate for judging primary elections. Under this alternative test, public state interests are weighed against party rights injuries. …