Cite as: 530 U. S. 567 (2000)
Stevens, J., dissenting
State's interest in increasing voter participation, ante, at 584-585, is particularly regrettable. In an era of dramatically declining voter participation, States should be free to experiment with reforms designed to make the democratic process more robust by involving the entire electorate in the process of selecting those who will serve as government officials. Opening the nominating process to all and encouraging voters to participate in any election that draws their interest is one obvious means of achieving this goal. See Brief for Respondents 46 (noting that study presented to District Court showed higher voter turnout levels in blanket primary States than in open or closed primary States); ante, at 586-587 (Kennedy, J., concurring). I would also give some weight to the First Amendment associational interests of nonmembers of a party seeking to participate in the primary process,10 to the fundamental right of such nonmembers to cast a meaningful vote for the candidate of their choice, Burdick v. Takushi, 504 U. S. 428, 445 (1992) (Kennedy, J., dissenting), and to the preference of almost 60% of California voters—including a majority of registered Democrats and Republicans—for a blanket primary. 169 F. 3d, at 649; see Tashjian, 479 U. S., at 236 (Scalia, J., dissenting) (preferring information on whether majority of rank-andfile party members support a particular proposition than whether state party convention does so). In my view, a State is unquestionably entitled to rely on this combination of interests in deciding who may vote in a primary election conducted by the State. It is indeed strange to find that the First Amendment forecloses this decision.
10 See La Follette, 450 U. S., at 135-136 (Powell, J., dissenting); cf. Tashjian, 479 U. S., at 215-216, n. 6 (discussing cases such as Rosario v. Rockefeller, 410 U. S. 752 (1973), in which nonmembers' associational interests were overborne by state interests that coincided with party interests); Bellotti v. Connolly, 460 U. S., at 1062 (Stevens, J., dissenting) (discussing associational rights of voters).
601
Page: Index Previous 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007