Reed still confident top two will go on

Secretary of State Sam Reed continues to stand by the "top two" primary, despite Tuesday's actions from lawyers for the state Democratic and Republican Parties.

Notably, he dismisses the attorneys' arguments that a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals injunction from 2005 would trump the Supreme Court decision upholding the validity of the top two primary.

"Ever since the courts threw out our beloved `blanket primary' in 2003, I have led the fight for a replacement that would continue to give our independent-minded voters the rights to `vote for the person, not the party,'" Reed said in a press release. "The voters approved our new Top 2 system in 2004 by nearly 60 percent and the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld it in a strong 7-2 opinion. This is the law of the land and we are following that. We believe the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will not depart from the direction the U.S. Supreme Court has set forth.

"Despite the unfortunate comments by party lawyers, our Elections Division and the Attorney General are persuaded that we are on solid legal ground and that the will of the voters will survive any and all court challenges by parties. We will continue to vigorously defend this new voter-approved system. It's about the rights and privileges of the voter, not the power or the preference of the political parties. We will stand with the voters every time.'"