JURIST - Paper Chase: Louisiana October primary vote ruled unconstitutional

[JURIST] A federal judge Monday overturned as unconstitutional a Louisiana law [text] that would have moved the state's congressional primary from November to October. Louisiana passed the legislation under the impetus of its "open primary" system that allows all candidates to run together, regardless of party affiliation. If no candidate won over 50%, a run-off primary election would have been held a month later, in November. The court determined that Louisiana was violating the federal law that requires elections for national offices to be held at the same time and therefore had to hold its initial primary elections in November, in sync with the rest of the nation. As a result, Louisiana run-off elections will now take place in December, putting Louisiana behind all of the other states. This effect has led to concerns [Advocate report] that Louisiana representatives will be last in line for seniority and committee assignments. The Louisiana attorney general has not yet decided whether to appeal the decision. AP has more.

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