SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, April 15, 2016 (2016) — A U.S. District judge on Friday evening ruled in favor of a political nominating system that allows would-be Republican candidates to bypass the party’s caucus and convention system.
The law, which allows potential candidates to gather voters’ signatures in order to get on the ballot, was upheld by Judge David Nutter, who ruled against a lawsuit brought by the Utah Republican Party in 2014, after the new law passed.
The Utah GOP had argued the law interfered with the Republican party’s right to to manage elections according to its own system, and violated its First Amendment right to free association.
Nutter ruled that the the 2014 law “does not impair the URP’s constitutional rights, but is a legitimate exercise of the state’s power to regulate elections.”
The Utah Republican Party did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
