On August 30, the 4th circuit issued on opinion in Miller v Brown, telling the U.S. District Court to decide the case. The issue is whether the Virginia Republican Party can enforce a bylaw (in effect, for now, only in one state senate district), that no one can vote in the Republican primary if they have voted in the last 5 years in a Democratic primary, unless that voter signs a statement of support for the Republican Party.
The US District Court had ducked the issue, saying since the bylaw won’t have any practical effect until 2007, the case is not ripe. Today, the 4th circuit told the US District Court that the case is ripe, and that the US District Court should decide the issue. Miller v Brown, 05-2254. The decision was written by Judge Joseph R. Goodwin, a Clinton appointee.
The Virginia suit still has a better chance of reaching the U. S. Supreme Court ahead of the similar suit, Mississippi Democratic Party v. Barbour.
The Mississippi suit is scheduled for a non-jury trial in the federal district court in Greenville, MS, on July 30, 2007.
There is also a movement among South Carolina Republicans to end open primaries in the Palmetto State.