MINNEAPOLIS — The Legal Marijuana Now Party will no longer be recognized as a major political party in Minnesota after the state Supreme Court ruled Friday that they failed to meet legal requirements to maintain that status.

The unanimous ruling from the court directs the Secretary of State's office to "take all appropriate actions necessary" to make sure Legal Marijuana Now is not considered a major party on state ballots in this year's August primary and November general elections. Two justices did not participate in the ruling.

In February, the state DFL Party filed a petition with the court arguing LMN failed to comply with state law when filing its certification for major party status. DFL-led changes to election law enacted last spring raised the bar for political parties to qualify as a major party.

The court found that the party "failed to satisfy the requirements to be a major party" by not maintaining a state central committee subject to control of a party convention, as required in law.

"Major party status comes with major party responsibilities, and only the Minnesota DFL and Minnesota GOP have consistently met that standard," DFL Party Chair Ken Martin said in a statement about the ruling.

The Legal Marijuana Now Party, which has been a major party in Minnesota since 2018, can try to qualify to participate in elections as a third party.

There are benefits that come with major party status, including automatic ballot access, campaign subsidies under the state's income tax checkoff and the ability to submit candidates in the state's presidential primary election.

A district court judge also recently sided with the DFL, finding that the LMN did not establish committees or meet leadership requirements under the law. They also didn't conduct "any convention for Minnesota's eight congressional districts and at least 45 Minnesota state legislative districts or counties."

Some of the requirements have been in statute for years, but changes made last session required political parties to report those to the Secretary of State's office.

Previously, a party could achieve major party status by having at least one statewide candidate on the general election ballot who received at least 5% of the vote. In addition to adding other requirements, Democrats raised the threshold to 8% of the vote in elections starting this fall.

Democrats have been critical of the Legal Marijuana Now Party, alleging that Republicans recruited candidates to run under their party banner in past elections, siphoning enough votes from their candidates to hand Republicans victory in key races.

The Secretary of State's office asked the court to rule by May 15 to give state local election administrators enough time to understand their requirements for the state's August primary and November general elections.

-------

©2024 StarTribune. Visit at startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.