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On November 29, the 9th Circuit held oral arguments in Washington Republican Party v Washington State, the case originally filed in 2005 by the Republican, Democratic and Libertarian Parties against the Washington state top-two primary system,” Richard Winger’s Ballot Access News reports.

“The political parties also submitted evidence that even sophisticated reporters who cover politics constantly refer to various Washington state politicians as “Democrats” or “Republicans”, never as individuals who “prefer” one of those parties. The state and the Grange ridiculed the idea that a law might be unconstitutional just because of what newspapers say. However, one of the judges noted that this case bears some similarity to trademark disputes, and that when courts hear a case on whether one company has infringed on the trademark of another company, the courts are supposed to look at all available evidence about public opinion. A decision will probably be out in the next three months,” BAN reports.