Gregoire signs bill for August primary

OLYMPIA – Summertime – and thoughts turn to … voting?

Gov. Chris Gregoire on Thursday approved an August primary election for Washington, starting in 2007.

The legislation, which Gregoire called the most significant election-reform bill in the wake of the much-criticized gubernatorial election of 2004, moves the primary forward a month, from the third week in September to the third Tuesday in August.

Gregoire said the state’s September primary, one of the latest in the country, has disenfranchised military and overseas voters and hasn’t allowed adequate turnaround time between the primary and general elections.

“County auditors have had to struggle for decades to hold a primary election in September only to have to turn around and rush to get ready for the general election in November,” the governor said at a bill-signing ceremony.

The rush may have contributed to sloppiness and errors at times, she said.

Sen. Dave Schmidt, R-Mill Creek, the bill’s prime sponsor, said auditors have only 21/2 weeks between the time they certify primary returns and get out general election ballots to absentee voters.

If a primary race goes to absentees and there are disputes or court challenges, that narrows the window even more, he said. He has called the situation “a train wreck waiting to happen.”

Gregoire’s own election went through three counts and numerous lawsuits, and she was not certified the winner until almost Christmas 2004. If the same narrow margin and complications had involved one of the party’s primaries, it could have ruined the eventual nominee’s chances or made it impossible to run the general election on time, she said in an interview.

The bill passed the House last year, but died in the Senate. This year, the measure passed without a hitch, and Schmidt, Gregoire and Secretary of State Sam Reed credited lobbying by the military and veterans.

Reed and his predecessor, Ralph Munro, called the bill a significant election reform.

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