High court upholds Oklahoma primary law

WASHINGTON, May 23 (UPI) -- A divided U.S. Supreme Court Monday ruled Oklahoma may restrict primary voters to members of a specific party and independents.

The high court, voting 6-3, upheld Oklahoma's election law prohibiting parties from opening their primaries to voters registered in other parties.

The Libertarian Party mounted a challenge to the law in its effort to allow Democrats and Republicans to vote in its primary. The Libertarians said the law violated its constitutional right to freedom of speech and political association.

An appeals court agreed, but the high court overturned the decision. The justices sided with Oklahoma, which noted 24 states do not subscribe to the open primary system that lets voters choose the primary in which they cast ballots.

In writing the dissenting opinion, however, Justice Paul Stevens criticized the majority opinion as "naked interest in protecting the two major parties." Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter agreed with Stevens.