Bills introduced at the Legislature would stifle Minnesota's third parties

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On March 9 House File 2802 (SF 1827) was introduced in the Minnesota Legislature. The bill would redefine the threshold for major party status here in Minnesota. Currently a political party must obtain 5% or more of a statewide vote to become or remain a major party with access to the ballot and other advantages. The new language would raise this threshold to 10% of a statewide vote.

Simply put, this would be devastating for third parties here in Minnesota. The voices of their members would be stifled, if not altogether silenced, by this legislative change.

Voters shouldn't be limited to two choices. As consumers we can and do have the ability to choose between more than just Target or Walmart, Coke or Pepsi, Home Depot or Lowe's. And as voters we deserve to be able to vote for more than just the GOP or DFL.

According to a Gallup poll conducted in September 2021, 62% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the two major parties are handling the nation's problems. Furthermore, a Pew Research Center survey conducted in April 2021 found that 40% of registered voters identify as independents, while 30% identify as Democrats and 27% identify as Republicans. Finally, in a survey conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in May 2021, only 16% of Americans said they have a great deal of confidence in the Democratic Party, while just 12% said the same about the Republican Party.

In 2022 the consensus message from the Democrats was that our democracy was at stake. It was a significant talking point for Democrats everywhere. TV ads, mailers and social media was awash with the idea that without the DFL democracy could very well whither and die. Yet, from where I sit I am witnessing a DFL-controlled Legislature propose a bill that would hamper and restrict our democracy — if not outright defeat it. Democracy may die in the darkness but it can also die from suffocation if marginal voices are silenced.

Conversely I hear Republicans speak about the idea that we have a constitutional republic structured in such a way that the voice of the minority will not be silenced. This constitutional democracy is the foundation of our system of government — it is what the Founding Fathers envisioned. Yet, this bill would accomplish the silencing of the minority.

Many of the ideals we value most were championed not by the majority but by minorities — from abolitionists who opposed slavery, to suffragettes who fought for a woman's right to vote, to those who marched for civil rights, to antiwar protesters, to those who fought for marriage equality, to those pressing for cannabis legalization today. All of these causes emerged from minority factions or third-party groups, just the sort of voices SF 1827 and HF 2802 would silence.

I also note that activists involved in each of these movements have been either ideologically, philosophically or politically libertarian.

Our democracy thrives when everyone's voices are heard and represented on the ballot. The Libertarian Party of Minnesota joins with all other third parties in opposing this legislation so that our communities, state and democracy can continue progressing.

Nathan Atkins, of Minneapolis, is political director of the Libertarian Party of Minnesota.