SENATE, No. 1855

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED MARCH 3, 1997

By Senator ADLER

An Act concerning certain primary elections and amending R.S.19:24-1.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. R.S.19:24-1 is amended to read as follows:

    19:24-1. In every year in which primary elections are to be held as herein provided for the election of delegates and alternates to the national conventions of political parties, including any national mid-term convention or conference of a political party, [which primary elections are to be held on the first Tuesday in June as hereinbefore provided,] the chairman of the State committee of each political party shall notify the Secretary of State, on or before March 1 of that year, of the number of delegates-at-large and the number of alternates-at-large to be elected to the next national convention of such party by the voters of the party throughout the State, and also of the number of delegates and alternates to be chosen to such convention in the respective congressional districts or other territorial subdivisions of the State as mentioned in such notification.

    If the State chairmen, or either of them, shall fail to file notice, the Secretary of State shall ascertain such facts from the call for its national convention issued by the National or State committee.

(cf: P.L.1978, c.15, s.5)

    2. (New section) a. Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S.19:2-1, R.S.19:3-3, and R.S.19:23-40 or any other law, the primary elections in 2000 for all political parties, including the primary elections for delegates and alternates to national conventions of political parties, and for the general election of that year shall be held on the first Tuesday in March, between the hours of 7:00 A.M. and 8:00 P.M., Standard Time.

    b. For the purposes of the 2000 primary election established in subsection a. of this section, the March 1 date provided for in R.S.19:24-1 and R.S.19:24-2 shall be changed to January 1, and the March 20 and April 1 dates provided for in R.S.19:24-2 shall be changed to January 7 and February 1, respectively.

    c. The Secretary of State shall, by rules and regulations, make appropriate adjustments for any other dates specified by law in order to accommodate the primary date in 2000 established in subsection a. of this section.

    3. This act shall take effect immediately and section 2 shall expire on December 31, 2000.

STATEMENT

    The purpose of this bill is to change the date of the primary election to be held in the year 2000 so that it occurs on the first Tuesday in March. Under current law, primary elections for all political parties, including the primary elections for delegates and alternates to national conventions of political parties, are held on the first Tuesday in June.

    Given the large amount of national media attention which is focused on the states with early presidential primaries, pushing back the date of the New Jersey primaries in the year 2000 would spotlight the State and could help to promote job growth and economic development.

Changes date of primary elections in year 2000 to first Tuesday in March.