Florida Primaries System Withstands Law Professor’s Challenge

Florida’s closed primary election system that conditions a voter’s participation on registration with a political party doesn’t violate the US Constitution, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit said.

Sarasota County voter and professor emeritus of law Michael J. Polelle failed to show that the closed system deprived him of his rights under the First and Fourteenth amendments, Judge Robin S. Rosenbaum said Tuesday for the appeals court in a split decision.

Florida law required Polelle to declare whether he affiliates with a political party, and if so, which one, when he registered to vote. Polelle declared that ...