On March 18, the Michigan Senate passed SB 697, which lowers the number of signatures for statewide independent candidates from 30,000 to 15,000. The old requirement had been declared unconstitutional several years ago, so in the meantime, the court had imposed 12,000 signatures. The vote was 40-27.

Also on March 18, the Senate passed SB 693, which moves the non-presidential primaries from August to May. Fortunately Michigan does not tie the primary date to the deadline for petitions for new parties or independent candidates, so the bill has no impact on those filing deadlines. The vote was 36-28.