A U.S. District Court in Nevada has set an oral argument in Chesnut v Democratic Party of Nevada (2:08-cv-46) for Thursday, January 17. The Judge assigned to the case is James C. Mahan, who was appointed in 2002. The case was filed by people who don’t like the Nevada Democratic Party’s caucus rules. Specifically, they believe that the party’s decision to hold special “at-large” caucuses in workplaces that have at least 4,000 employees violates state law. The case tests the extent to which political parties have the autonomy to set their own rules.

The Oregon State Senate Elections & Ethics Committee heard testimony today on legalizing fusion (the practice of letting two political parties jointly nominate the same candidate). There is no specific bill in front of that committee, but there will be soon. Most legislators present seemed in favor of the idea. Both the Working Families Party of Oregon, and the Independent Party of Oregon, testified in favor.

The U.S. Supreme Court did not issue any election law decisions on Tuesday, January 15. However, the Court is expected to issue more opinions on Wednesday, January 16, so there may be an opinion on January 16 in either the Washington state election law case, or the New York state election law case, or possibly both.