Minnesota Legislature Adjourns, Does Not Move Primary from August to June

On May 20, late in the night, the Minnesota legislature adjourned for the year. The legislature did not pass the Senate version of the omnibus election law bill. That bill, SF 677, would have moved the primary from August to June, and automatically would have created earlier petition deadlines for a newly-qualifying party, and also an earlier petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates.

The legislature did pass the House version of the omnibus election law bill, HF 894, but that bill does not change primary dates or any petition deadlines. That bill expands the types of voters who can use absentee voting, but does not provide for early voting.

Other bills that failed to pass include bills to provide that if a presidential elector votes in the electoral college differently than had been expected, he or she is deemed to have resigned, and would be replaced by someone chosen by the other electors. Those bills were HF 526 and SF 464. Also, the bills to let non-charter cities use ranked-choice voting, SF 335 and HF 367, failed to pass. The National Popular Vote Plan bills also did not pass.


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