What would be the earliest primary elections in state history hit the fast track for legislative approval Tuesday, as the Senate passed and sent to the House a bill setting the 2014 state contests for May 20.
House Bill 310, sponsored by House Ethics Committee Chairman Joe Wilkinson, R-Sandy Springs, would make the state and partisan county primaries compatible with Georgia’s new federal primary schedule, which a judge ordered last year.
HB 310 would also require all candidates to file a campaign finance report on March 31. That date, however, would appear mostly aimed at unelected challengers because incumbent state officials cannot raise money during the 40-day legislative session. With little or no fundraising to report, incumbents would have little to disclose by March 31.
The primary date change came about after U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones chastised Georgia officials last year for not giving military residents and other Georgians living overseas enough time to return absentee ballots by Election Day.
The primaries had originally been scheduled for July, but the U.S. Department of Justice sued the state over its practice of holding federal runoffs three weeks after an election.
Federal officials based their complaint on the country’s Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986, which established a 45-day window for overseas voters to return their ballots.
Jones subsequently ordered the state to extend its 21-day runoff window.
Under the proposal, candidate qualifying for the May 20 primary would run from March 3 to March 7.
The bill is expected to win quick passage in the House, which means Georgia voters would be casting their ballots before Memorial Day. Officials expect higher turnouts then than if they had held the primary in June — which Jones had originally ordered.
The Senate Ethics Committee passed the bill Monday, the first day of this year’s legislative session. Tuesday’s Senate vote was 38-15.
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