On May 22, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signed SF 2985, which establishes presidential primaries in future years. All ballot-qualified parties could have a presidential primary. However, the date would be set by the two parties that polled the largest vote for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. If they don’t agree on a date, then the primary would be on the first Tuesday in March.

Minnesota does not have registration by party. Normally, a Minnesota voter decides in secret which party’s primary ballot to use. But for presidential primaries, voters would need to publicly ask for a particular ballot, and a record would be made.

Pesidential primary candidates would get on the ballot at the sole discretion of the political party. No other state has such a provision, although Georgia and Florida are very similar. In all three states, persons not approved by certain party or legislative leaders would have no option to get on the primary ballot.