Opinion ID: 457052
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Preserving the Integrity of the Electoral Process

Text: 94 The final interest proffered by the State in defense of its closed primary law is preserving the integrity of the electoral process. Because primary elections are conducted at state expense, and because the state strengthens political parties by conferring preferential general election ballot access upon candidates selected in party primaries, it cannot be gainsaid that a state possesses a strong interest in the operation of its electoral regime. 95 We can well imagine circumstances in which the integrity of a state's electoral processes is threatened, and where some level of governmental intrusion into the administration of primaries is necessary to protect the state's vital interest in the fair and efficient running of elections. Indeed, states are inevitably and inexorably involved in the mechanics of elections, and this involvement may always be characterized as somewhat intrusive. Each time a state sets hours during which polls will be open, or designates polling places, or designs a system for absentee balloting, its choice affects the ability of certain persons to associate for political ends. Nevertheless, as these intrusions become more pronounced, and their effects increase, the ill sought to be cured by governmental involvement must become correspondingly greater. 96 Notwithstanding Connecticut's claim that implementing the Party Rule would render the state's electoral processes unmanageable and grant the Republican Party a practical veto over state law, and the party [would] become[ ] a law unto itself, Brief for Appellant at p. 45, we find little evidence in the record to support this assertion. Indeed, the State of Connecticut appears more concerned with the Party's ability to change its rules at will than with the specifics of the rule as it has enacted. The thrust of the State's argument is that the Party, if it may enact this rule, may in the future enact any and all rules it wishes. The fear expressed by the State in its brief and voiced at oral argument is that the Republican Party--and, perhaps, every other party--may implement new rules every year, requiring the State to change its electoral procedures constantly. The State further raises the spectre of party rules altered on the eve of election, forcing the State to recalibrate its electoral system on a moment's notice. 97 Indeed, the concerns of the State appear to be sincerely held. And, as we have noted, we can imagine circumstances where a state might in fact be forced to spend vast sums of money and endure considerable inconvenience to effect the whims of private political associations. But we stress that, in this case, the State's fears are just that--fears, and pure speculation will not support as massive a governmental intrusion into the affairs of a political association as that worked by Section 9-431. 98 As Justice Black noted in Williams v. Rhodes, supra, 393 U.S. at 33, 89 S.Ct. at 12, No ['theoretically imaginable'] danger can justify the ... crippling impact on the basic constitutional rights involved in this case. These words are particularly apt in the instant action. 99 Even if we were to assume, arguendo, that the State's compelling interest in preserving the integrity and stability of its electoral process was not overcome by the hypothetical nature of the potential abuses, we believe the State's interest may be justified by means far less drastic than its mandated closed primary. If, for example, Connecticut's concern truly lies with the constant changing of party rules, the State could simply impose a limit on the frequency with which party rules could be changed. Or, if the State's fears were caused by the spectre of last-minute changes in the manner of selecting candidates, the legislature could properly impose restrictions on the ability of a party to change its rules for a specified period prior to an election. Unlike Section 9-431, such legislation would be appropriately tailored to achieve the State's interests, while simultaneously minimizing the intrusion into a political party's first amendment right of association.