Salt Lake Tribune: Is Count My Vote Deal Unconstitutional? Judge Says He (Still) Wants to Know Why - Updated

We'll applaud Federal District Court Judge Nuffer's generousity in providing the appellants "one last chance"

As a followup to our previous coverage of the Count My Vote lawsuit, in which the Utah Republican Party seeks to overturn last year's SB54 compromise, which establshed a dual-track political nominations systen in the State of Utah, we're delighted to report that this pending litigation seems to have reached a crucial tipping point, during Thusday's status conference, according to this morning's Salt Lake Tribune story as the Utah GOP requests a preliminary injunction this morning:

A federal judge said Thursday he wants the Utah Republican Party to offer a concrete case for why a deal cut last year to change how candidates for political office are chosen violates the U.S. Constitution and should be stopped from being implemented.
U.S. District Judge David Nuffer said he wants attorneys for the party to be able to point directly to the Constitution or legal precedent to show why specific lines and provisions of the deal legislators cut with Count My Vote — a group formed to push a ballot measure to change the nominating process — violate the law.

Read the full story, folks:

• Is Count My Vote deal unconstitutional? Judge says he wants to know why - SLTrib

"I have not read anything yet that supports the generalized impingement of association argument you're making," Nuffer told the GOP appellants. The judge said he wants to see cases cited that would support the claim that, by dictating how candidates can be nominated, the state overstepped its bounds and denied the party its First Amendment rights.

Sounds as if the appellant Utah GOP's pleadings so far have been so far insufficient to make its case, dunnit?

Fox News 13 also provides a couple of timely and informative stories on this topic too, shedding further light upon the status of the pending litigation at this crucial juncture:

• Witnesses claim ‘Count My Vote compromise’ bill will destroy Utah GOP - Fox 13
• Judge says he’ll rule tomorrow on Utah GOP’s ‘Count My Vote’ injunction request -Fox 13

We'll applaud Federal District Court Judge Nuffer's generousity in providing the appellants "one last chance," before he "rules from the bench,"  which is what he indicates he'll do as early as today.

Stay tuned, folks, as we'll continue to follow and update this now fast breaking story.

Update 4/10/15 5:59 p.m.: Hot off the press from the Salt Lake Tribune:

A federal judge on Friday refused to block a new Utah law that will change the way candidates are nominated in next year's election.
U.S. District Judge David Nuffer ruled from the bench at the conclusion of a more than five-hour hearing on the Utah Republican Party's quest for a preliminary injunction against SB54.
Nuffer said the GOP had failed to show that the law placed unconstitutional burdens on the party.

Here's the full post-hearing story, peeps:

• Federal judge deals Utah Republican Party a blow in its challenge of new election law

The prevailing appellees' next anticipated step, we suppose? A Motion to Dismiss, we guess, inasmuch as the Utah GOP appears incapable of either pleading or proving that SB54 "places unconstitutional burdens on the Utah GOP."