Mark Siegel, an expert in national party convention rules, has this column in Huffington Post, suggesting that if fewer than half the delegates at the Republican national convention are loyal to Mitt Romney, the convention credentials committee might very well unseat some of the Arizona and Florida delegates. National Republican Party rules forbid those two states to hold winner-take-all primaries because those two primaries were so early. But the state parties in those two states disregarded the national rules, and awarded Romney delegates all of the seats. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

Rob Richie has this article in the Huffington Post, showing that media assumptions that most of the Republican presidential primaries have been assigning delegates proportionately is not true. The article present hypothetical delegate counts so far if the voting were proportional in all Republican presidential primaries. The article has other insights as well, about the role of money, and whether or not the Republican Party is being damaged by having a vigorous contest for its nomination.

On the evening of March 8, the Utah Senate passed HB 233 unanimously. The bill is now through the legislature. The bill says that if a party meets the 2% vote test, it is then on the ballot for the next two elections, not just the next election.

Minor parties generally poll enough votes in presidential years to remain ballot-qualified, because there are either four or five statewide offices on the ballot. But in midterm years, when only U.S. Senate is on the ballot, it is difficult for minor parties to meet the vote test. But under HB 233, there will generally be no need for a party to worry about the vote test in midterm years.