HONOLULU -- The Republican National Committee, pressed to find a way to more clearly distinguish itself from Democrats, on Friday adopted a rule that will prod GOP leaders to provide financial support to only those candidates who support the party's platform.

The resolution, enacted by voice vote with no opposition at the party's winter meeting here, is an alternative to a more stringent proposal that would have required GOP candidates to support 10 policy positions if they wanted party help.

That proposal, sponsored by Indiana RNC member James Bopp and backed by the RNC's more conservative members, was strongly opposed by party Chairman Michael Steele and a group of state party chairs.

The alternative, offered by RNC member Bill Crocker of Texas, does not contain a specific litmus test and thus grants party officials more flexibility in how to vet GOP candidates seeking party support.

It urges leaders of local, state and national Republican parties to "carefully screen" the voting record and positions of Republican candidates that want party backing, and determine whether they "wholeheartedly support the core principles and positions" of the party as laid out in its platform.

The platform is adopted every four years at the party's presidential nomination convention.

The new rule will not prevent support for moderate Republican candidates but will bar funding for those judged to be too far to the left, Crocker said.

"No more Scozzafavas, please. No mid Country Crossing spokesman Jay Walker.

The head of the governor's antigambling task force, Mobile District Attorney John Tyson Jr., went to Montgomery to ask the Alabama Supreme Court to lift the order blocking the raid at VictoryLand and to appoint a new judge to approve a search warrant to raid Country Crossing.

The Supreme Court set a schedule for filing legal arguments in the VictoryLand case that runs through 5 p.m. Tuesday. Judges will begin reviewing the matter Wednesday, court officials said.

There was no immediate action on Tyson's request for a new judge in the Country Crossing case.

Tyson said Conecuh County District Judge Jeff Brock declined to grant a search warrant for Country Crossing until he heard from a gambling expert. The judge later said no proceeding with the expert would take place before Monday, prompting Tyson to ask the high court for another judge.

The casinos have been operating under constitutional amendments that allow bingo in those counties. But Gov. Bob Riley contends those amendments -- and 15 others that allow bingo halls to operate in other counties -- allow only traditional paper bingo, not electronic machines that resemble slots. Slot machines are illegal in Alabama.

Tyson warned electronic bingo operators statewide: "Obey the law. Shut down these machines."

The governor's side got a boost Friday afternoon when the Alabama Supreme Court unanimously blocked electronic bingo machines from operating in Ashville, 20 miles northeast of Birmingham. The justices said the Ashville ordinance allowing the games did not require enough human interaction to comply with Alabama law.

The machines usually require a customer to push a button two or three times during each game.

"Anyone with any common sense knows that these slot machines are not bingo," Riley said.

Fred Gray, an attorney for VictoryLand, said the Macon County operation has been investigated by a federal grand jury and two county grand juries, with no charges ever filed.

He said there was no legal justification to seize property.

"They had no warrant, they had no court order, and presented nothing to the owners," Gray said.

Macon County Sheriff David Warren said the task force tried to stage the 4 a.m. raid by arguing an undercover officer witnessed illegal gambling inside. Warren disagreed, however.

"As far as I'm concerned they are legal machines," he said.

At a news conference in Montgomery, Tyson said no search warrant was needed because an undercover officer inside VictoryLand witnessed an illegal gambling device, a misdemeanor, that would allow a raid and seizure of the machines.

State Attorney General Troy King sent the governor a letter Friday, questioning the task force's decision to try to conduct a raid without a search warrant.

King cited "the possible disregard of private property rights and due process," as well as exposing the governor and task force leaders to legal liability for acting without a warrant.

VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor cut the ribbon in December on a 300-room luxury hotel at the complex in Shorter, about 20 miles east of Montgomery on Interstate 85. The hotel and additions are a $100 million investment in a gambling complex that began with a dog track 25 years ago. It now employs about 2,000 people in a historically poor county.

Country Crossing in the state's southeast opened its $87 million first phase Dec. 1, with more attractions this year pushing the total investment to more than $200 million.

Last year, the governor's task force conducted a raid at the White Hall casino in Lowndes County, seizing about 100 of the 900 machines and more than $500,000. The case is in court, and the casino has been operating with new equipment.