The U.S. Supreme Court Monday upheld a federal court decision that declared Washington’s blanket primary unconstitutional.  The U.S. Supreme Court denied Washington’s petition for “writ of certiorari,” killing the state’s nearly 70-year-old blanket primary.   
The constitutionality of Washington’s blanket primary was most recently challenged in Washington State Democratic Party, et al., v. Sam Reed. The lawsuit, filed in the summer of 2000 by the state’s major political parties, followed a U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled California’s blanket primary unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court decision announced Monday leaves Washington with no constitutional primary system in place to move candidates onto the November ballot.
“I was disappointed to learn that the Supreme Court declined to grant our petition for review,” said Gov. Gary Locke. “This was not unexpected, as the Supreme Court takes only a fraction of the many petitions that come before it. In declining to hear the case, the court did not rule on the merits of our arguments.
However, it means that the Ninth Circuit opinion is the law of the land. We must now accept the ruling of the court, and take steps to enact a new primary election system that complies with both the letter and the spirit of the Ninth Circuit’s ruling. I am committed to working with legislative leaders and others to implement such a system.”