On March 28, the Idaho House passed S1514 by a vote of 64-2. This is the bill that says if a candidate changes his or her name before running for office, the ballot should list not only that candidate’s current name, but the candidate’s prior name. This bill was introduced because one of the candidates running for U.S. Senate in this year’s Republican primary legally changed his name to “Pro-Life” last year.

The two legislators who voted “No” are Steven Thayn, a Republican, and Branden Durst, a Democrat.

The Republican National Committee’s Rules Committee is meeting April 1-4 near Albuquerque, New Mexico. On the agenda is a determination to work out a recommended plan for presidential primary schedules in 2012. The Republican Party can only change its rules at its national convention. The Rules Committee, therefore, hopes to come up with a plan that the national convention can approve, when it meets September 1-4 in Minnesota.

The Rules Committee is considering five various plans. Some of them organize the nation by region and allow for a lottery to determine which region goes first. Another plan groups the states by population, and provides that the smallest states go first, and the largest states last. Most of the plans allow New Hampshire and South Carolina the right to go ahead of all other states.

On April 1, the Alaskan Independence Party state officers decided that the party will again nominate the Constitution Party’s presidential nominee. The Alaskan Independence Party also followed that policy in 2004.

This gives the Constitution Party ballot access for president in 19 states currently. Four years ago at this point in the cycle, it was only on in 16 states.