On March 14, the Minnesota Senate State and Local Government Committee passed SF 1827, which raises the vote test for party status from 5% to 10%. Many witnesses testified against it, including Jesse Ventura. The vote was 8-4.

One minor party leader, Oliver Steinberg, testified in favor of the bill. He had been a founder of the Grassroots Party. He said his party, which is no longer on the ballot, was invaded by insincere candidates running in its primary. But, if the law had allowed the party to nominate by convention, that problem could have been solved. I was a witness and I pointed this out, but no legislator reacted to that information.

UPDATE: here is a news story about the hearing.

On February 23, Ken Martin wrote a letter in support of SF 1827, the bill that raises the definition of a qualified party from 5% to 10%. Martin is the chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

The letter says that 19 states have two categories of political party, and says that the threshold for major party status ought to be high. What the letter does not say is that in Minnesota, the “minor party” category confers absolutely no ballot access. A Minnesota “minor party”, in state law, is not on the ballot and all its nominees must petition as though the group had no status whatsoever.

The letter then goes on to compare Minnesota with other states, in a deceptive manner. There are 17 states with two tiers of qualified party, but both tiers are on the ballot. The upper tier nominates by primary; the lower tier nominates by convention. But both types of party are freed from having to petition for their nominees (except in New Mexico). For example, in Texas, a party with 20% of the vote must nominate by primary; parties that poll 2% nominate by convention but are on the ballot. The letter asserts that Texas has a 20% vote test, but the Texas 20% does not relate to ballot access, but simply to the detail of how a party nominates. The letter also asserts that Colorado has a 20% vote test, but, again, as in Texas, that is just the threshold for a mandatory primary as opposed to nomination by convention. It doesn’t relate to ballot access. Here is the letter.

On March 10, David Hamm, the state chair of the Republican Party wrote a letter in support of the bill, although it does not make misleading factual statements about ballot access.

The Minnesota Senate Elections Committee will consider SF 1827 on Tuesday, March 14, at 3 p.m. This is the bill that changes the definition of a qualified party from a group that got 5% for a statewide race at either of the last two elections, to 10%.

Minnesota committees require witnesses to sign up the day before the hearing. One of the witnesses who has signed up is former Governor Jesse Ventura. Presumably he will speak against the bill. The Independence Party of Minnesota was launched in 1994 by running Dean Barkley for U.S. Senate. Barkley polled 5.4% in 1994, so the Independence Party attained qualified status. If the vote test had been 10% back in 1994, the party might never have survived. It elected Ventura in 1998. It had changed its name to the Reform Party in 1996, although it changed it back to Independence in 2000. It also elected a State Senator in 2002.