On February 17, the Senate Rules Committee passed SB 872, which moves the Oklahoma primary (for office other than president) from July to the 2nd Tuesday in June. The bill is sponsored by Senator Glenn Coffee, leader of the Republicans in that chamber, and observers expect it to pass.

The bill also moves the deadline for candidates to file for a place on the primary ballot from June to the last Thursday in March. However, the bill fails to change the petition deadline for a new party to qualify itself, which is currently May 1. Thus, if SB 872 passes in its current form, people intending to run in the primary of a new party would need to file before that new party had qualified itself.

The Oklahoma Constitution requires all qualified parties to nominate by primary, so the legislature can’t solve the problem by letting new parties nominate by convention. And if the legislature amends the bill to make the deadline for a new party substantially earlier, then the entire procedure for a new party would probably be held unconstitutional.