As the hours wind down on the legislative session in Olympia, the shadow of tall remaining tasks – a budget, a transportation package – mustn’t eclipse an urgently needed election reform.

The most pressing reform, according to county auditors and Secretary of State Sam Reed, is moving the date of the state primary back a month, to the third Tuesday in August. Partisan discord, however, threatens to send the idea to the Capitol burn pile.

Moving the primary is important, the auditors and Reed have said over and over, because it will prevent a train wreck that’s waiting to happen. The three tallies in the ultra-close governor’s race provided all the evidence necessary to show that a close primary race could keep general-election ballots from reaching overseas voters in time. Most of those voters are serving in the military.

The current seven-week window between the primary and general elections would expand to 11 weeks, which auditors believe will give them enough time to ensure timely delivery of all mail ballots, including those that go overseas. It would also provide enough cushion to ensure that if a recount is necessary, it won’t have to be rushed.

The original bill to move the primary died in the Senate last week after Democrats in the House refused to go along with Republican reforms that included having all voters reregister, requiring voters show to photo ID at the polls and making voters show proof of citizenship when registering. Reed, the state’s top election official and a Republican, opposed forcing voters to reregister, saying it would violate the federal Help America Vote Act.

Even though they make up a minority in both chambers, Republicans were able to use the primary bill as leverage because it requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate. That’s because Lt. Gov. Brad Owen ruled it makes a change to an election initiative passed by voters in November.

Having failed to get what they wanted, Republicans shouldn’t let this important change die. What if a close primary race keeps military personnel from getting their general-election ballots in time? What if there was too little time to print the general-election voter guide before ballots arrived in voters’ mailboxes? What if a rushed recount caused errors? We don’t need to make an already challenging process even more so.

Senate and House leaders from both parties should put politics aside for now and do the right thing for voters, especially those serving us overseas. They mustn’t adjourn this weekend before moving the primary date.