The Minnesota Senate Elections Committee will consider SF 1827 on Tuesday, March 14, at 3 p.m. This is the bill that changes the definition of a qualified party from a group that got 5% for a statewide race at either of the last two elections, to 10%.

Minnesota committees require witnesses to sign up the day before the hearing. One of the witnesses who has signed up is former Governor Jesse Ventura. Presumably he will speak against the bill. The Independence Party of Minnesota was launched in 1994 by running Dean Barkley for U.S. Senate. Barkley polled 5.4% in 1994, so the Independence Party attained qualified status. If the vote test had been 10% back in 1994, the party might never have survived. It elected Ventura in 1998. It had changed its name to the Reform Party in 1996, although it changed it back to Independence in 2000. It also elected a State Senator in 2002.