Oregon Bill to Move Primaries Back to June

There are a couple of bills before the Oregon legislature -- introduced earlier -- concerning the timing of primaries in the Beaver state, but one (SB 615) leaves the presidential primary alone while moving the state and local primaries to September.¹ The other, however, introduced at the behest of the House Interim Committee on Rules, proposes moving all of the primaries -- presidential included -- from the third Tuesday in May to the second Tuesday in June. HB 2429, if passed and signed into law, would place Oregon's presidential primary -- and those for state and local offices as well -- on June 12, the final day in which delegate selection events can be held according to the national parties' rules regarding delegate selection.

Section 254.056 of the Oregon Statutes does not as it is currently written separately mention the various primaries, merely the date on which the primary is to be held. SB 615 amends the code to reflect separate dates for the two sets of primaries, but HB 2429 does not. The latter continues to treat all of the primary elections as one and on one date.

Here's the current law:

254.056 Date and purpose of general election and primary election. (1) The general election shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year. Except as provided in ORS 254.650, at the general election officers of the state and subdivisions of the state, members of Congress and electors of President and Vice President of the United States as are to be elected in that year shall be elected.

(2) The primary election shall be held on the third Tuesday in May of each even-numbered year. At the primary election precinct committeepersons shall be elected and major political party candidates shall be nominated for offices to be filled at the general election held in that year. [1979 c.190 §229; 1979 c.316 §20a; 1987 c.267 §1; 1995 c.712 §1; 1999 c.59 §64; 1999 c.999 §28; 2001 c.965 §12; 2003 c.542 §7]

And here is how HB 2429 amends it:

254.056 is amended to read:   254.056. (1) The general election shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year. Except as provided in ORS 254.650, at the general election officers of the state and subdivisions of the state, members of Congress and electors of President and Vice President of the United States as are to be elected in that year shall be elected.   (2) The primary election shall be held on the   { - third Tuesday in May - }  { +  second Tuesday in June + } of each even-numbered year. At the primary election precinct committeepersons shall be elected and major political party candidates shall be nominated for offices to be filled at the general election held in that year.

No, this isn't, as was the case with Idaho, a big move, but it is another proposed move backward and one that was not necessary to bring Oregon back into compliance with national party rules. Overall, it is a curious move simply because it isn't clear what the motivation -- at least in regard to the presidential primary timing -- is.

¹This bill would place the state and local primaries very close to the back end of the window to hold primaries and remain in compliance with the MOVE act mandate (in order to finish primary elections, print ballots and get them out to military and overseas personnel abroad 45 days prior to the general election date).

UPDATE: HB 2429 is slated for a public hearing on March 9.

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