On January 20, attorneys for the state of Montana waived their right to file a response to the U.S. Supreme Court, in the Republican Party lawsuit against the open primary. The case is Ravalli County Republican Party v McCulloch, 16-806. The lower courts had ruled that the party didn’t submit evidence that the open primary hurts the party, so the lower courts upheld the open primary.

Montana is one of 19 states with an open primary, in which any voter on primary day is free to choose any party’s primary ballot, although each party has nominees and its own primary ballot. The Hawaii Democratic Party has a similar case pending in the U.S. Supreme Court, but in Hawaii, the state government did file a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking that court not to hear the case.