An article in the Detroit News says that both Republican and Democratic state legislators are talking about moving the Michigan non-presidential primary from August to May or June.
Fortunately, the petition deadline for new parties and independent candidates in not tied to the date of the primary. Those petitions are due 110 days before the general election, so changing the primary date would not affect the petition deadlines.
But the primary date *is* the deadline for alternative parties to hold conventions and/or caucuses to nominate candidates for the November general election. See MCL 168.686a(1).
Or would new bills leave the August date as a nomination deadline for independent candidates? (Or change that deadline to the 110-days-in-advance deadline for party ballot-access petitions — and for qualifying petitions for independent/No Partisan Affiliation candidates?)