The Supreme Court rejected this challenge and held that the state's election laws did not infringe upon candidates' First Amendment associational rights.

Several concurring justices emphasized, however, that their decision reflected only the constitutionality of the state's election system, and not its wisdom or merit.

Lopez Torres, along with similarly situated candidates, their supporters, and the public interest group Common Cause, brought suit in federal court against the state Board of Elections, claiming that the nomination system deprived voters and their candidates of their rights to gain access to the ballot and to associate in their parties' primaries.

...[4]A nearly unanimous court in Lopez Torres overruled the Second Circuit and upheld the constitutionality of New York's judicial election system.

[6]The Court also rejected the plaintiffs' contention that the existence of entrenched "one-party rule" rendered the general election uncompetitive.

As the Court noted, candidates could obtain a place on the ballot, without party affiliation, via New York's general petition-signature requirements.

Justice Kennedy's concurring opinion emphasized that the political party nomination was not the sole method of securing a place on the ballot.