Cite as: 530 U. S. 567 (2000)
Opinion of the Court
M. Medeiros, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Andrea Lynn Hoch, Lead Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and James P. Clark.*
Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court. This case 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.
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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,1 see Cal.
*Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were filed for the Eagle Forum Education & Legal Defense Fund et al. by Erik S. Jaffe; for the Republican National Committee et al. by Joseph E. Sandler and Thomas J. Josefiak; and for the Republican Party of Alaska, Inc., et al. by Kenneth P. Jacobus.
Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed for the State of Washington et al. by Christine O. Gregoire, Attorney General of Washington, Maureen A. Hart, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Jeffrey T. Evan, Assistant Attorney General, Bruce Botelho, Attorney General of Alaska, and Dan Schweitzer; for California Governor Gray Davis by Demetrios A. Boutris, D. Robert Shuman, Shelleyanne W. L. Chang, and Allen Sumner; for Alaskan Voters for an Open Primary (AVOP) by Max F. Gruenberg, Jr., and for Senator William E. Brock et al. by James M. Johnson.
Briefs of amici curiae were filed for the Brennan Center for Justice by Burt Neuborne; and for the Northern California Committee for Party Renewal et al. by E. Mark Braden.
1 A party is qualified if it meets one of three conditions: (1) in the last gubernatorial election, one of its statewide candidates polled at least two percent of the statewide vote; (2) the party's membership is at least one percent of the statewide vote at the last preceding gubernatorial election; or (3) voters numbering at least 10 percent of the statewide vote at the last gubernatorial election sign a petition stating that they intend to form a new party. See Cal. Elec. Code Ann. § 5100 (West 1996 and Supp. 2000).
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