Here’s a fascinating decision from the Ninth Circuit on our other area of interest, election law.
Public Integrity Alliance, Inc. v. City of Tucson, No. 15-16142 (9th Cir. Nov. 10, 2015) was a challenge to Tucson’s unusual hybrid system of electing the city council. The primary election is a partisan primary, limited to residents of each of the city’s wards. Once elected in these ward-by-ward primaries, the candidates go on to an at-large general election, where everyone in the city is eligible to vote. This system was challenged as violative of equal protection, because it deprives city voters of the ability to vote in the ward-by-ward primaries.
In a 2-1 decision authored by Judge Konzinski, the Ninth Circuit agreed.
Public Integrity Alliance, Inc. v. City of Tucson, No. 15-16142 (9th Cir. Nov. 10, 2015)