Here is the Montana Republican Party’s brief in Ravalli County Republican Central Committee v McCulloch, now pending in the Ninth Circuit. The issue is whether the state can force the Republican Party to choose its precinct committee officers in a primary in which any voter may participate. The U.S. District Court had refused to enjoin the law, so the Republican Party is asking the Ninth Circuit for relief.
The state has been given permission to delay its response until April 29.
On March 3, the Idaho Senate passed SB 1066, which gives Idaho a presidential primary on the 2nd Tuesday of March. The bill retains the existing May primary date for office other than President. Thanks to Josh Putnam for this news.
James J. Ryan has this article, advocating proportional representation, at the Independent Voters Network blog. IVN was founded by proponents of the top-two idea, but it has been branching out this year and carrying articles about other election systems. Thanks to James Ogle for the link.
USA Today has this op-ed, authored by six 2014 congressional candidates, all of whom are ages 18-29. The op-ed points out that only 18% of that age group believe that electoral activism is worthwhile. The op-ed also points out that Congress has no members under age 30, and not very many under age 40. Among the six authors are two Republicans, two Democrats, one Libertarian, and one independent.
An Electoral Action Conference will be held in Chicago, May 2-3, 2015, for leftists who believe in electoral activity outside the major parties. See this story.
