Opinion ID: 457052
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Nature of the Intrusion

Text: 77 At first blush, Connecticut's intrusion into the associational rights of the Republican Party is not readily apparent. 24 For, on its face, Section 9-431 merely prohibits voters who are not enrolled in a political party from participating in primary elections. The statute's intrusiveness, however, becomes clear when one realizes that it is expressly at odds with the organizational aims and electoral aspirations of the Republican Party, which explicitly amended its rules to permit unaffiliated voters to vote in certain primary elections. 78 In essence, then, we are faced with the situation where a statute--enacted by a Democratic controlled state legislature--effectively regulates the structure and candidate selection process of the Republican Party. In and of itself, legislative definition of an association's boundaries may not appear to run afoul of the first amendment. Nevertheless, in light of the intimate relationship between the structure of a political association and the message ultimately transmitted by that group, we believe the inexorable effect of the Connecticut legislation is to alter the Party's message, and thus strike at the very heart of the first amendment. It is to these concerns that we now turn. 79 The Supreme Court has recognized that freedom of association serves as a capacious shield according constitutional protection to a variety of specific rights. Among this bundle of associational freedoms is the right of a group of individuals to form a political party for the advancement of partisan political beliefs. See Cousins v. Wigoda, supra, 419 U.S. at 487, 95 S.Ct. at 547. Indeed, the basic function of political parties is to nominate candidates for the expression of shared political beliefs, Kusper, supra, 414 U.S. at 58, 94 S.Ct. at 308. If the right of political association is to retain its vitality, then, a party must remain free to seek compromise among the varied interests of its adherents. Undue state interference with the party primary--including state mandated exclusion of unaffiliated voters--stands to distort the compromise that might have been struck among these varied interests and, therefore, distort the party's choice among competing political beliefs. By prohibiting unaffiliated voters from participating in party primary elections, therefore, the Connecticut legislature has influenced the content of the compromise emerging from those elections. 80 Traditionally, unaffiliated or independent voters have not parroted the views expressed by the party faithful, but have injected new and innovative ideas into the political marketplace, and challenged the status quo at every juncture. See Adamany, Crossover Voting and the Democratic Party's Reform Rules, 70 Am.Pol.Sci.Rev. 536 (1976). Because candidates for elected office frame their positions largely by reference to what they perceive to be the concerns of the relevant electorate, statutory circumscription of primary eligibility requirements is certain to affect the content of the ultimate message transmitted by that party. Consequently, the right of political association must be deemed to protect the ability of political party members to identify those persons with whom they wish to associate and allow them to play a part in determining the shared ideals of the party. To rule otherwise, would ignore the teachings of the first amendment and countenance state control, albeit indirect, over a political party's ideology. 81 Collateral to Section 9-431's indirect interference with the Republican Party's formulation of a political message is the statute's diminution of the effectiveness of the association itself. The Supreme Court has held that a political party enjoys the right to determine the most effective manner in which to associate, select candidates, and maximize its chances of victory in the general election. See Kusper v. Pontikes, supra, 414 U.S. at 58, 94 S.Ct. at 308; Williams v. Rhodes, supra, 393 U.S. at 30, 89 S.Ct. at 10. After all, electoral success--whether as a means or as an end--is the raison d'etre of every political party. See Storer v. Brown, 415 U.S. 724, 745, 94 S.Ct. 1274, 1286, 39 L.Ed.2d 714 (1974). 82 The Republican Party in Connecticut, however, has been disappointed repeatedly in its quest for electoral success. Admittedly, the principal reason for these failures is the existence of fifty percent more registered Democrats than Republicans in Connecticut. The Republican Party has sought to increase the likelihood that candidates with a broader base of popular support will emerge from its primaries--that is, to maximize the effectiveness of its association--by amending its rules to allow unaffiliated voters to participate in selected primaries. The legislative branch, however, has thwarted the Party's efforts to reap the fruits of an expanded association and, in so doing, has substantially interfered with the Republican Party's constitutionally protected right, see Williams v. Rhodes, supra, 393 U.S. at 30-31, 89 S.Ct. at 10-11. 83 In analyzing the maze of legislative motive and political effect, we cannot ignore the fact that the Democratic Party, which controls the state legislature, may have exploited its position to structure the electoral process in such a way as to entrench itself in power and immunize itself against successful attack by the Republican Party. 25 We are particularly wary of efforts by government officials to control the very electoral system that serves as the primary check on their power. Indeed, few concepts are so antithetical to the notion of representative democracy as that of a temporary majority entrenching itself by manipulating the system through which the voters, in theory, may register their dissatisfaction by choosing new leadership. In this case, there exists at least the spectre of such entrenchment. Every attempt by the Republican Party to improve its chances for electoral success--in a sense to enhance the competitiveness of the two-party system in Connecticut--was thwarted by Democrats in both houses of the state legislature, who voted unanimously against legislation to allow implementation of the Party Rule. Moreover, on June 28, 1985, the Democratic Governor of Connecticut upheld his promise to veto any legislation that would allow the Republican Party to implement its rule. As a result of these developments, we are constrained to conclude that, to some extent, the State of Connecticut has stifled and inhibited robust political debate, placed obstacles in the path of the Republican Party's pursuit of elected offices and new adherents, and thereby minimized the accountability of elected officials to their constituents. 84 Accordingly, we hold that Section 9-431 substantially interferes with the Republican Party's first amendment right to define its associational boundaries, determine the content of its message, and engage in effective political association. As such, the statute must be subjected to strict judicial scrutiny.