Federal judge rules Washington primary election system constitutional
[JURIST] A federal judge on Tuesday ruled [opinion, PDF] that Washington state’s "top-two" primary election system is constitutional. Judge John Coughenour of the US District Court for the Western District of Washington [official website] held that voters were not confused [Seattle Times report] by the current version of Washington state’s ballot, which allows candidates to list which political party they prefer even if that party does not back the candidate. The top two vote-getters in a primary then advance to…