Kansas Bill Would Move Independent Candidate Petition Deadline from August to Early May

Posted on by March 12, 2023
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Kansas SB 290 would move the primary for all office from August to early May. It is introduced by the Committee on Federal and State Affairs. The independent petition deadline in Kansas is tied to the date of the primary, so if the bill passed as introduced, it would automatically move the petition deadline for independent candidates from August to May. Section 25-305 says the independent candidate deadline is the day before the primary.

In 1987, when the Libertarian Party challenged the independent candidate petition deadline (which was in June at that time), the state agreed that the June deadline was unconstitutional and settled the case, and moved the deadline to August. Merritt v Graves, 87-4264-R. The settlement is dated September 20, 1988. At the time, the Libertarian Party was not a qualified party in Kansas, and had to use the independent petition procedure to place its presidential nominee, Ron Paul, on the ballot.

Texas Bill to Make it Far More Difficult for Independent Candidates to Get on Ballot

Posted on by March 11, 2023
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Texas Senator Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) has introduced SB 2531, to double the number of signatures for an independent candidate, from 1% of the last gubernatorial vote, to 2%. The Texas statewide independent petition has been 1% ever since 1903 when Texas first created government-printed ballots.

Even the 1% petition is so difficult, it is seldom used. It has not been used statewide since 2006. For legislative independents, only one qualified in 2022. Voters who vote in the primary cannot sign independent candidate petitions, and the time period to collect the signatures is short.

The bill also doubles filing fees. The filing fee for U.S. Senator goes from $5,000 to $10,000. The bill also doubles the number of signatures needed for a petition in lieu of filing fee. Thanks to Linda Curtis for this news.

Minnesota Bill to Stiffen Definition of Qualified Party is Introduced in House

Posted on by March 11, 2023
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Seven Democratic Representatives in Minnesota have introduced HF 2802. It changes the definition of a qualified party from one that polled 5% at either of the last two elections for a statewide office, to one that polled 10%. It would take effect before the 2024 election if it passed.

The bill is identical to SF 1827, introduced earlier by Senator Jim Carlson. The House authors are Representatives Luke Frederick, Mike Freiberg, Emma Greenman, Nathan Coulter, Zack Stephenson, Kristi Pursell, and Esther Agbaje.

The Democratic legislators are introducing this bill in order to eliminate the ballot-qualified Legal Marijuana Now Party. In Minnesota, all qualified parties nominate by open primary. There have been insincere candidates filing for the primary of the Legal Marijuana Now Party, not because they care about marijuana legalization, but in order to injure the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party nominee. The solution for this problem is a bill that would allow small qualified parties to nominate by convention, to give such parties more control over which races they contest, and whom to choose.