ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota is back to having just two official major political parties.
A ruling issued Friday by the Minnesota Supreme Court found that the Legal Marijuana Now Party no longer meets the requirements to qualify as a major political party in the state.
The decision followed a suit filed by Minnesota DFL party chair Ken Martin against the Secretary of State's office, seeking to decertify LMN's major party status for failing to satisfy certain state requirements regarding state and local committees and conventions.
Legal Marijuana Now candidates have previously garnered enough voter support in major races in previous elections to qualify for major party status until new requirements were put into place this year.
While LMN candidates have never won a major race, the party has impacted Minnesota elections, particularly in the Second Congressional District, where an LMN candidate died before the election in both 2020 and 2022. The death of Adam Weeks in 2020 triggered a Minnesota law that delayed the election from November to February of 2021. The next year, LMN candidate Paula Overby died shortly before the 2022 election; however, this time the election was held as scheduled in November following a federal court ruling on candidate vacancies in Minnesota.
Earlier this year, an LMN candidate listed on the Presidential primary ballot asked voters to choose someone else as she had not consented to run.
The party's namesake platform issue, the legalization of recreational marijuana, is also now settled law in the state of Minnesota.
In a news release, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said the party will now "need to file a notice to the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State that it met the requirements to be listed as a minor political party." Under the ruling, LMN candidates can only appear on 2024 ballots if candidates provide the required number of petition signatures, which varies depending on the race.
The ruling leaves the Republican Party and the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party as the only two major political parties operating in Minnesota.
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