Date change proposed for state primary elections

• Elections

Elections

Talk about it

MADISON - A public hearing will be held this morning on changing the dates of two Wisconsin elections.

The state Assembly and Senate elections’ committees will hear what people think about moving the state’s presidential primary back to early April from its current date in mid-February. The other bill would move up the fall partisan primaries to the second Tuesday in August. That measure would help Wisconsin comply with new federal deadlines for sending absentee ballots to voters overseas.

The presidential primary was moved to February in 2004 to try-and-give Wisconsin more clout in picking the parties’ White House nominees. But that didn’t work, because other states moved their primaries and caucuses ahead of Wisconsin for the same reason. Senate Republican Mary Lazich of New Berlin said moving the presidential contests back to April would streamline the state’s voting process by holding them on the same day as the spring general elections.

Lazich is sponsoring the Senate bills. Freshman Republican Gary Tauchen of Bonduel is sponsoring the identical Assembly versions.

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