On April 23, the Republican National Committee filed this request with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the Court to hear Republican National Committee v Federal Election Commission. The case concerns the limit of $30,400 on how much individuals may contribute to an FEC-recognized political party.

The party is not asking that the limit be totally invalidated, just that it be invalidated when the money is going for activities that have nothing to do with federal candidates. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

New Mexico holds its primaries on June 1. On April 21, the New Mexico Supreme Court ordered that Kerby Johnson, a candidate for Magistrate in Aztec, be restored to the Democratic ballot. The Court said it would explain later. Johnson’s petition had been challenged, but the challengers had not served him personally. Instead, they had postally mailed notice of their challenge to him. The basis for the decision, restoring his name to the ballot, is that he should have been served personally. See this story.

Great Britain is holding a House of Commons election on May 6. Three debates among the leaders of the Labour, Conservative, and Liberal Democratic Parties have been scheduled (one has already taken place).

On April 23, the BBC Trust, which controls the invitations to these debates, ruled that two other parties will not be included in these debates. The two parties are the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru. See this story. The BBC Trust said that only the three invited parties have a chance of winning the election. Thanks to Eric Garris for the link.

Neither the Scottish National Party, nor Plaid Cymru, have enough candidates for House of Commons to elect a majority. It is not clear if two other parties that do have enough candidates to elect a majority, the UK Independence Party and the Green Party, have also complained about being excluded from the debates.