Much to Professor Schaff's disappointment, the South Dakota legislature is considering a bill that would move the presidential primary forward:
Several South Dakota legislators want to revive an early presidential primary in the state.
A bill offered in the Legislature would require a presidential vote in the state every four years on the last Tuesday in January. That would be one of the earliest presidential primaries in the nation.
The measure calling for the early primary, HB1272, is a companion bill to HB1271, which would give counties $500,000 for expenses of the special winter elections.
South Dakota held February presidential primaries in 1988, 1992, and 1996, and those early contests attracted several presidential candidates.
But the Legislature got rid of the early primary in 1997, restoring South Dakota's presidential primary to June so it's held at the same time as primaries for state offices.
The February primary was eliminated because lawmakers felt South Dakota was not getting enough attention from presidential candidates. Opponents also said the only people who got to rub elbows with the candidates were political party officials.
The cost of the early primary was part of its downfall, too.
There's a lot of validity in Professor Schaff's arguments against frontloading. I've been a supporter of moving the primary forward, but the evidence and arguments compiled by my colleague has begun to convince me I may be wrong. In any event, consider the arguments on both sides and debate amongst yourselves.
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