On March 14, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the request of attorneys for the state of Montana to delay their filing in Ravalli County Republican Party v McCulloch. The state’s response had been due March 16, but now the government has until April 17.

This extension will delay the parallel Hawaii Democratic Party case as well. The U.S. Supreme Court is treating the two pending cert petitions as a unit. In both cases, the lower courts rejected attempts by the major parties to prevent members of other parties from voting in their primaries.