On April 2, the Republican Party’s National Rules Committee issued its recommendations for presidential primary timing in 2012 and beyond. If the Republican Party National Committee approves the idea in August, and if the Republican Party’s national convention Rules Committee approves the idea, and the full national convention also approves the idea, then it will be party policy.

The plan would be that Iowa would go first with its caucus, followed by the New Hampshire primary, both in the first week of February. South Carolina could holds its primary, and Nevada could hold its caucus, as soon after New Hampshire as they wish.

Then the 20 smallest population states and territories would hold their events, during the third week of February. The remaining states would be divided into three groups. A lottery would be held to determine the order of the events for the next three groups. The winning group would hold its events during the first week in March. The second group would hold its events in the fourth week in March, and the last group in the 3rd full week in April. Thus, the season would be all over by April. By contrast, under the existing system, there are presidential primaries in May and June.

The 20 small states, plus territories, that would hold events in late February would be Alaska, Delaware, D.C., Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Northern Mariana Islands.

The larger states, which would participate in a lottery to see which groups went first, are grouped this way:

Group X: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin (16 states).

Group Y: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia (9 states).

Group Z: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania (7 states).

Thanks to Rob Richie and Rick Hasen for this news.

On April 2, the California Senate Education Committee passed SB 1322, by a vote of 6-1. It removes an old unconstitutional law that makes it impossible for a member of the Communist Party to be hired as a public school teacher. Although this is not an election law bill, it has election law implications. If this bill is signed into law, it will probably be possible to pass another California bill in the near future, to delete election laws that bar Communists from running from office, and ban “subversive” parties from the ballot. As noted in an earlier post, only five states besides California have such laws still on the books.

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.