Like with a theft. Theft is the just the base charge. It is then considered if it is one of many forms of theft, like aggravated theft if a weapon was involved.
Maybe not the best analogy, but it'll suffice.
The first law has to apply for the other to be considered.
The judge is saying the laws are not related
One set of laws governs how political parties pick who is on the primary ballots.
The second law does not applied to primary ballots but only to candidates on the general ballot.
In other words, the plaintiffs did not have legal recourse to the law they filed their complaint under.