The state House overwhelmingly agreed today to hold primary elections two weeks earlier to give voters serving in the military and living overseas adequate time to participate.
On a 94-1 vote, the House amended then approved a Senate bill moving up the August primary from the third Tuesday to the first Tuesday. Candidate filing will be moved up three weeks and now be held in mid-May starting the Monday two weeks before Memorial Day.
Also, ballots for the primary will be mailed four weeks earlier to overseas and military voters and two weeks earlier for the general election.
If the bill becomes law, the changes begin in 2012.
“I think the people who protect us overseas have a right for us to pass this,” said Rep. Mike Armstrong, R-Wenatchee.
The Senate passed SB 5171 on a 47-1 vote March 4. You can read the version as amended and passed today by the House here.
The bill now returns to the Senate to decide whether to agree to the changes.
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