On February 27, the Minnesota House Government Operations & Elections Policy Committee passed HB 1393. It moves the primary from the second Tuesday in August to the first Tuesday after the third Monday in June. If signed into law, the bill won’t take effect until 2020. But if it were law now, the primary would not be August 14; instead it would be June 19.

If this bill becomes law, the Minnesota ballot access law for new party petitions will be unconstitutional. That petition deadline would move from May to March. The petition requires 5% of the last vote cast, which in 2018 would be 147,247 signatures. This petition is so severe, it has existed since 1913 and it has never been used statewide. Already it was probably unconstitutional under McLain v Meier, an 8th circuit decision from 1980 that struck down North Dakota’s party petition because it had only been used once and required the signatures of 3.3% of the eligible signers.

North Dakota in 1980 let candidates who use the independent procedure choose a party label, and independent candidates never needed more than 300 signatures. But North Dakota’s easy access for independent candidates did not save that state’s party petition. Minnesota also has a relatively easy independent candidate petition. No one ever needs more than 2,000 signatures, and a party label is permitted. But, under McLain v Meier, that would not save the Minnesota party petition.

The Centrist Project is getting closer to becoming a political party, although the officers of the group would not characterize it that way. Here is a platform, of sorts, that all Unite America candidates (who run as independent candidates) adhere to. Although it is thin on policy, there is some substance, notable in the sentence calling for both fiscal responsibility and environmental responsibility.

Independent candidates endorsed by Unite America, so far, include three gubernatorial candidates and two U.S. Senate candidates. The gubernatorial candidates are Greg Orman in Kansas, incumbent Bill Walker in Alaska, and Terry Hayes in Maine. The Senate candidates are Craig O’Dear in Missouri and Neal Simon in Maryland. The two U.S. Senate candidates each need 10,000 signatures, due in late July or early August.

On February 26, South Dakota HB 1012 passed the Senate State Affairs Committee unanimously. It says that a party only needs to pass the vote test every four years, instead of every two years. The bill had already passed the House.