Democratic Party of Hawaii v. Scott Nago

In 2013, the Democratic Party of Hawaii (the “Democratic Party” or the “Party”) brought a facial First Amendment challenge to Hawaii’s open primary system. The Democratic Party seeks to limit the participants in its primary elections to its formal members or to voters who are otherwise willing publicly to declare their support for the Party. According to the Democratic Party, Hawaii’s open primary system, which allows registered voters to participate in any party’s primary without formally joining or declaring support for that party, severely burdens the Party’s associational rights.

The Democratic Party and Scott Nago, Hawaii’s chief election officer, brought cross-motions for summary judgment, both seeking judgment on the Party’s First Amendment claim as a matter of law. The district court granted summary judgment to Nago. Democratic Party of Haw. v. Nago, 982 F.Supp.2d 1166 (D. Haw. 2013). The Democratic Party appealed.

We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

I.

A. Hawaii’s Open Primary System

In 1978, the Hawaii Constitution was amended to provide that “no person shall be required to declare a party preference or nonpartisanship as a…