Minnesota gives qualified status to any group that runs a statewide candidate and gets at least 5%. In the November 2018 election, the Grassroots-Legalize Marijuana Party got 5.73% for Attorney General. And the Legal Marijuana Now Party got 5.29% for Auditor. Therefore, they are both qualified for the next two elections. Thanks to Paul Frankel for this news.
Minnesota law permits parties to change their names, so presumably if the two parties wish to merge, the law on party name changes would allow them to join together into a single party.
Why are these separate parties?
Maybe these to parties were founded at separate pot parties, and didn’t realize that someone else was doing the same thing.
May be one of two can have a name change to — ALL Drugs Party ???
According to my wiki-research, there was a party split in 1996, but other press says they are not adversaries. The Legal Marijuana Now (LMN) website says it is a “progression” from the Grassroots Party. The Grassroots Party website includes endorsements of the LMN candidates.
What Richard Winger did not note is that 5% qualifies a party as a major party, which nominates by primary. A quirk of Minnesota law is that parties on the primary ballot are listed left to right, from smallest to largest. Minnesota does not have party registration and voters pick a party anonymously on the ballot.
The establishment minor parties in Minnesota – Independence, Green, and Libertarian had an arrangement to run for different state offices so that each had a chance to qualify as a major party.
Minor party candidates qualify by petition, but independent candidates are permitted to use a slogan, so being a minor party doesn’t buy much beyond some formal recognition.
The Grassroots candidate for Attorney General (informally) withdrew and endorsed the DFL candidate, but his result still qualified the party. The DFL candidate has been accused of domestic abuse, which may have encouraged voters to vote for the only alternative candidate.
Minnesota has same day registration, and many persons, particularly younger voters have come to the habit of registering on election day, particularly if they have moved. Voting may be like going to see a new band on a whim, as opposed to purchasing a season subscription to the opera.
The advantages of being a qualified party in Minnesota are huge. If a party has not polled 5% for a statewide office at either of the last two elections, it is not on the ballot and must submit a separate petition for each of its nominees. Minnesota requires each petition to be completed in two weeks. Therefore Minnesota’s minor parties have almost no candidates for legislature, and very few for US House. This year Minnesota had only two minor party candidates for state legislature. They were both Libertarians. There were 135 seats up, so having only two minor party candidates is pretty repressive.