The Indiana legislature is unable to pass bills this session, because all the Democrats in the House have boycotted the session for the last month. A similar Democratic boycott in Wisconsin got much more national publicity, and is now over. See this story about the Indiana legislature. The deadline for bills to have passed their house of origin has passed. If the Democrats come back, though, that deadline might be altered.

Election law bills that are technically dead this year include a bill to require birth certificates for presidential candidates, a bill to eliminate the straight-ticket device, and a bill to provide that the open primary should become a secret open primary (currently, any voter can choose any party’s primary ballot, but the voter on primary day must publicly disclose which ballot he or she is requesting; the bill would make that decision private).

On March 21, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Cao v Federal Election Commission, 10-776, a case filed by the national Republican Party and by former Congressman Joseph Cao of New Orleans, concerning federal campaign finance law. The party had argued that the part of the McCain-Feingold law that inhibits political party spending on its own nominees, as interpreted by the Federal Election Commission, is too strict. The lower courts had rejected the party’s arguments, mostly on the grounds that the U.S. Supreme Court had already upheld these rules. Many observers had expected the U.S. Supreme Court to hear this case.

The California Republican Party is holding a state convention in Sacramento March 18-20. According to this news story, the party is likely to begin holding its own primary, at its own expense, beginning in 2014. The party would postally mail a ballot to all registered Republicans, in advance of the June government primary. The results would determine which Republican would be endorsed by the party, and the endorsed Republican candidates would be the beneficiary of party support at the polls in June and November.

The private primary ballot will cost a great deal to administer. However, apparently the party hopes that Republican registrants will respond to the mail ballot, not only with a vote, but with a donation to the party.