In an unusual show of unity, leaders of Minnesota's three major political parties joined together last week to urge the Minnesota Legislature to approve plans to move the traditional September primary earlier, to June, in an effort they say will give voters more time to study the candidates who will be on the November general election ballot.
It is a good idea, for a number of reasons.
Local elections officials who must quickly change modes from primary to general elections also agree with the earlier primary. Now, the results of the winnowing primary are barely set when county officials must prepare ballots for the general election less than two months down the line.
An even greater problem is preparing and printing absentee ballots to send to Minnesota voters overseas in time for them to be filled out and returned home for tallying. That turnaround is hard to meet, and was pushed even further this past election with some 2,500 Minnesotans serving duty in Iraq as part of the Minne-sota National Guard contingent there.
From the public's standpoint, an early primary will allow the party activists -- those most likely to vote in a primary, as evidenced by the 16 percent voter turnout last Sept. 12 -- to select their party's candidate. Then, the general public can weigh the views and issues of each party's candidate over the summer and into the fall to make a better informed decision.
ADVERTISEMENT
It's true that most Minnesotans don't pay attention to politics until the State Fair and especially after Labor Day, but with an earlier primary, they won't have to focus on an immediate primary election and then refocus on general election candidates. It should also create a more even playing field, as currently it's possible for one party to have an expensive, hard-fought primary battle which drains party resources, while candidates from other parties for the same position skate through with little or no primary opposition and hit the short general election battle fresh and unscathed -- and well moneyed.
State DFL Party Chairman Brian Melen-dez, in Bemidji on Monday, told The Pion-eer that he thinks "it will be a generally good thing, but there will be a few adjus-tments that need to be made. The way it works right now, we spend our time argu-ing about who's the better Republican or who's the better Democrat. It'd be better if we all spent our time arguing about who's going to be the better public servant."
Joining in support last week were State Republican Party Chairman Ron Carey and State Independence Party Chairman Jim Moore, as well has having the nod from new Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.
A date in June will need to be worked out, as it falls close the Legislature's May adjournment, but having the general election field set by July 4 parades should be the goal.
By making the main event the main e-vent through the summer and into the fall should improve voter education and, ulti-mately, keep Minnesota's nation-leading general election voter turnout high.
