On March 15, the New York Assembly passed A9271b, a bill that moves the non-presidential primary from August to June. It also moves the petition deadline for independent candidates, and the nominees of unqualified parties, from August 21 to May 29. Section 13 of the bill says that independent petitions are due 23 weeks before the general election, which, in 2012, works out to May 29.

That deadline would certainly be held unconstitutional, at least as applied to presidential candidates. There are currently no states with a deadline for independent presidential petitions earlier than June 14 (Colorado has a June 2 deadline, but Colorado doesn’t require a petition, just payment of $500). June petition deadlines for independent candidates have been declared unconstitutionally early in six states, so even a June petition deadline for New York would be constitutionally suspect.