On March 31, South Carolina election officials filed their Fourth Circuit brief in Greenville County Republican Party v Way, 13-2170. The issue whether the Greenville County Republican Party has standing to challenge state laws that require parties to nominate by open primary, unless three-fourths of the party’s convention delegates approve using a convention and unless the voters who vote in that open primary also approve switching to a convention.

The government brief insists that the Greenville County Republican Party does not have standing to challenge the open primary, because the state Republican Party is not a co-plaintiff. The government does not mention the U.S. Supreme Court opinion San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee v Eu, in which various county organizations of the Democratic Party, and a single county organization of the Republican Party, won a lawsuit against California election laws that told parties how to structure themselves, and told them they could not endorse candidates in their own primaries.

The Greenville County Republican Party also complains that even when it pays for its own municipal primaries, it is still required to open its primary to all voters, not just party members. But the government’s brief says South Carolina law lets parties nominate by convention in municipal elections, so the party isn’t being required to hold a city primary.

On April 2, the U.S. Supreme Court issued this opinion in McCutcheon v Federal Election Commission, 12-536. The vote was 5-4. The majority struck down a federal law, passed in 1976, that restricts how much money a donor may contribute in total to all candidates or committees. The decision does not affect the contribution limit from an individual to a particular candidate, which is $2,600 in the primary season and another $2,600 in the general election.

The majority decision notes that, among the 38 states that have contribution limits, only eight states have aggregate limits. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote separately to say that he believes all contribution limits should be struck down. The majority opinion, by Chief Justice John Roberts, is 40 pages. The dissent, by Justice Stephen Breyer, is 30 pages and also has an Appendix of 13 pages with statistical data meant to show that the decision will make it easier for wealthy individuals to channel additional contributions to particular candidates.

On April 1, the District of Columbia held primaries for the Democratic, Republican, Green, and Libertarian Parties. Here is a link to the D.C. Board of Elections web page, showing preliminary election returns.

The web page does not have party labels. However, the returns for each party begin with the office of Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. The Democratic returns are first, followed by the Republican returns, the Green returns, and the Libertarian returns. One easy way to see the beginning of the Republican returns is to find Nelson Rimensnyder’s returns (he is the only Republican candidate for Delegate to the U.S. House).

Several hundred Green Party members voted in the Green Party primary. It appears that only about 25 voters participated in the Libertarian primary.