House Approves Bill Moving Up State Primaries to May

House Majority Leader Larry O’Neal said the date change is necessary so the state and federal primary can be held on the same day. Last year, a judge moved up Georgia’s federal primary to allow more time for military and overseas ballots in the event of runoff elections.

“The reason for this bill solely was the military decision the federal judge made and then our decision to bring into compliance for efficiency purposes statewide elections at the same time,” said O’Neal.

Some state lawmakers are concerned the new primary date will rush legislative session – the sooner session is over, the sooner lawmakers can begin to fundraise.

State Rep. Nikki Randall, D-Bibb County, is particularly concerned about a hurried budget process.

“It will certainly put us on rush and I don’t think that’s good and I think the people of Georgia deserve more deliberation in this process,” said Randall.

Some lawmakers are now floating the idea of beginning session a week earlier.

House Speaker David Ralston didn’t comment on that, but denied feeling pressure to wrap up session any quicker than usual.

“People expect us to be here. We’re limited to 40 days. I think they expect us to work full-time and work diligently and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re not going to rush consideration of anything,” said Ralston.

The bill passed the Senate earlier this week and now moves to the governor, who is expected to sign it.

On the effect of the new primary date, Secretary of State Brian Kemp says it may actually boost turnout.

“It’ll be interesting to see how turnout is affected. The primary usually falls a week or two after the July 4th holiday and so a lot of people are focused on summer vacation and having a primary before a lot of school systems are out for summer break, there’s some that say this date change will actually make it more inclusive,” said Kemp.

The bill also requires candidates disclose campaign finances at the end of March during election years.