Idaho considers moving primary election
January 24, 2012
Boise, Idaho: The Idaho State Legislature is considering overriding thirty-two years of precedent to change the state's election schedule. Since 1980, Idaho has held its primary election in May. Now, the House State Affairs Committee would like to go back to having the primary in August.[1]
The reasons for the proposed change are twofold. The first would be to provide the redistricting commission with a later deadline for redrawing district maps. Last week, the Idaho Supreme Court invalidated the final plan for the new districts, sending the panel back to the beginning of the process. Since the filing deadline for the primary election begins on February 27, commission members would have less than one month to draw new districts. The second reason for the change is to shorten the time that candidates spend running for election.[1]
One legislator contends that the delayed primary would not shorten the season at all. Instead, candidates would spend the summer campaigning for the primary in August, while currently the summer months are lazy campaign days.[1]
Footnotes
| |||||
