Minnesota is one of ten states that didn’t hold a presidential primary in 2008. Representative Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul) has introduced HF 31 to provide for a presidential primary in the future.

The primary would be the first Tuesday in February. Candidates would qualify either by paying $500, or by submitting signatures of 1,000 from each of the state’s eight U.S. House districts. Six weeks would be allowed for collecting the 8,000 signatures. They would be due 70 days before the primary, i.e., late November of the year before the election.

Indiana currently does not have registration by party. On primary day, voters ask for any particular party’s primary ballot. Representative Dan Stevenson (D-Highland) has introduced HB 1404. It would provide that a primary voter decides in the secrecy of the voting booth which party’s primary to vote in. As before, though, a voter could only vote in one party’s primary.

Delaware has one of the nation’s most rigid laws on when and how voters may change political parties. Current law does not permit voters to change parties in the zone that is 90 days prior to any primary, or the zone that is 90 days prior to a general election. Senator David Sokola (D-Newark) has introduced SB 9, to reduce the zone to only 20 days before a primary or a general election.