Watson v. Republican National Committee · ¶53

In Foster, we considered whether Louisiana's system for open primary elections was consistent with the federal election-day statutes. See id., at 70. Unlike a conventional, party-run primary, Louisiana's primary was run by the State. And if a candidate got a majority of votes in the primary, that was it: The candidate was “elected, and no further act [was] done on federal election day to fll the office in question.” Ibid. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). While this system was in place, “over 80% of the contested congressional elections in Louisiana . . . ended as a matter of law with the open primary.” Ibid. We held that this system violated the federal election-day statutes because the “contested selection of candidates” could be “concluded as a matter of law before the federal election day.” Id., at 72.

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