On October 13, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Rubin v Padilla, 15-135, the minor party lawsuit that charges the top-two system, now in effect in California and Washington, violates voting rights in the general election.
Top-two requires all candidates to be placed on the primary election ballots. Only the top two finishers may appear on the general election ballot.
This puts minor parties at a severe disadvantage due to the fact that the two old parties have granted themselves enormous advantages that ensure they will be the only ones to proceed to the general election in any competitive race. Only in elections where the incumbent is so safe that either the Democrats or Republicans choose not to run a candidates can alternative candidates have a chance to make the general election ballot.
By banning challenge parties from the general election, top-two serves to block alternative parties from reaching voters when most of them are tuned in – during the two months before a general election – and deprives voters of desperately-needed choices.
