Jeremy Gruber
WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a dramatic step forward for litigation challenging closed primaries, the U.S. Supreme Court has indicated they are going to conference to discuss whether to grant a writ of certiorari to Polelle v. Florida Secretary of State; a case challenging Florida's closed primaries that Open Primaries has supported since its inception.
In other words, the court is considering adding the case to its calendar and could hear oral argument.
There are close to 10,000 cases filed for cert. to the Supreme Court every year and the court chooses between 100 and 150 to hear each term. Most are denied outright without discussion. Only those petitions that at least one justice wishes to discuss are placed on the discuss list and voted on.
The votes of four justices are required to grant a writ of certiorari, which places the case on the court's calendar.
This means two major firsts.
- We have identified support on the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the legal status of closed primaries, and
- The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court will be seriously discussing the rights of independent voters among themselves-for the first time ever.
Open Primaries and the Independent Voter Project (IVP) were joined by the Forward Party and Florida Forward Party in submitting an amicus brief to the Supreme Court asking it to tackle the fundamental questions at the heart of the open primaries debate:
This court should grant review to clearly articulate that the right to vote is a nonpartisan, fundamental right, and that representation derives from citizenship, not by virtue of joining a party."
The brief offers a new resource to the movement, exploring the many open questions of law that American courts have failed to address when it comes to independent voters and offering new framings in the fight to let all voters vote.
Whether or not the court takes this specific case on, one thing is clear. We just made major headway in the legal fight for open primaries!
Kudos to Professor Polelle and all our legal partners in this case. For more information on current legal efforts challenging closed primaries, sign up for the virtual discussion, "Taking Open Primaries To Court," hosted by Open Primaries and IVP, during which leading attorneys will discuss the role of litigation in change politics and how getting into court could transform the primary reform movement.
Jeremy Gruber is the Senior Vice President of Open Primaries, a national election reform organization. He is part of the legal team that filed the joint amicus brief with SCOTUS.