Ohio lawmaker proposes legislation to change presidential primaries from March to May
An Ohio lawmaker wants to keep the state's primary at the same time every year, whether it's a presidential election year or not.
The bill has the backing of nine cosponsors from both sides of the aisle in the Ohio House.
Democratic Rep. Daniel Troy said he wants to do this for many reasons. He said it would make for less confusion with elections falling around the same day each year.
Troy's bill would change the primary election date from March to May.
"Our main concern in scheduling, conducting elections, not the national political parties and a cadre of national political convention delegate wannabes, you know, which is really what this is all I mean, our response is to the citizens of Ohio," said State Rep. Daniel Troy, D-Willowick.
Troy told media outlets under this proposal all candidates, whether federal, state or county, will not have to file petitions to be nominated 11 months in advance.
"We applaud Representative Troy for introducing legislation to move Ohio's presidential primary to May," said Sherry Poland, president of the Ohio Association of Election Officials. "For too many years, the presidential primary has been a moving target, creating confusion for voters, poll workers, election officials, and candidates alike."
Kyle Kondik is the Director of Communications for the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, a nonpartisan group that focuses on political policy nationwide. He says there is no harm in switching dates. â¿¿
"I don't think Ohio is going to face some sort of penalty for the parties," said Kondik. "Whether they're in March or whether they're in May. It's just a question of a preference, really. And again, I don't think there's anything necessarily inherently good or bad about being in March or being in May. It's just different."
Kondik told Spectrum News it depends on different personal opinions regarding early voting and competition.
"I guess you could argue that, you know, maybe the whole presidential process is too front-loaded, and maybe it should be moved back in general," said Kondik.
Republican State Rep. Bill Seitz is a co-sponsor of this proposed piece of legislation He said he supports it because primary elections falling on different dates each year could actually be a little bit of a nuisance. Troy also mentioned this proposal could shorten the election season and potentially allow less time for partisan politics.
"It’s up to the General Assembly to set the time, place, and manner of Ohio’s elections, but voters are pretty resilient. They’ve adapted to the earlier presidential primary date just fine in past elections," said Rob Nichols, Spokesperson of the Secretary of State's Office.
The proposal has been introduced to the Ohio Clerk's Office and has not yet been assigned a bill number.