Price of early Oregon primary: $2.8 million

A House committee hesitates on putting the state into the thick of the 2008 presidential race
Thursday, March 22, 2007
EDWARD WALSH
The Oregonian

for original article
SALEM -- A move to add Oregon to the stampede of states planning an early presidential primary next year was slowed Wednesday after lawmakers were told that changing the election could cost the state $2.85 million.

The House Elections, Ethics and Rules Committee voted to amend House Bill 2084, moving the 2008 presidential primary election to Feb. 5 and also shifting local elections now scheduled for next March to the same day. But committee members, saying they wanted more information about the cost of the shift, delayed a vote to send the bill to the House floor.

"This is a significant cost to the state," said Rep. Vicki Berger, R-Salem. "It at least makes me pause."

Still, Berger remains a strong supporter of a Feb. 5 primary:

"For once in my life, I'd like to vote in a presidential primary that truly matters," she said.

Last week, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation moving that state's primary from June to Feb. 5. Six other states will hold primaries that day, while another 15 -- including Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New York and Texas -- are considering a similar shift. That would make Feb. 5 the ultimate "Super Tuesday" in next year's presidential sweepstakes.

Under the Oregon proposal, only the 2008 presidential primary would be held on Feb. 5. Primary elections for other offices, such as for the U.S. House and Senate and for the Legislature, would remain on the May 20 ballot. The committee voted to shift the March local elections to Feb. 5 as a way to reduce the cost of holding a separate primary for president.

But Brenda Bayes, deputy director of the state Elections Division, said the shift would not accomplish a significant cost savings because the March elections are for local offices and are paid for by the about 10 counties that hold local elections then.

Bayes said the state would have to share the cost of a Feb. 5 primary with those counties and pay the full cost of the primary elsewhere in the state. She said Oregon counties spent $2.9 million to conduct the 2006 primary elections.

The rush of states to hold primaries in February threatens to make states with later primaries even more irrelevant than they have been in recent elections, when the two major party nominations have been locked up before the end of March.

Shawn Cleave, communications director for the Oregon Republican Party, said GOP officials support moving the presidential primary. "We think it would be good for both parties and for the state as a whole because it would make Oregon a bigger player in national politics," he said.

But Oregon Democratic Party Chairwoman Meredith Wood Smith said she has reservations about moving the primary because of costs and because "moving to Feb. 5 is not going to mean Oregon is getting more attention because we have California and a lot of other big states" planning their primaries that day too.

In Washington, a committee of state elected officials and party leaders will meet Friday to discuss moving that state's May 27 primary to an earlier date, probably Feb. 5.

The House committee also heard testimony Wednesday on a bill that would allow eligible citizens to register to vote until 8 p.m. on Election Day. Under current law, voter registration ends 20 days before an election, although voters who are already registered can update their voter information as late as Election Day.

Secretary of State Bill Bradbury said Oregon allowed Election Day registration until the mid-1980s, when members of the Rajneesh Commune, a bizarre, cultlike movement, arrived in the state and threatened to take over the Wasco County government by importing thousands of people to vote in the 1984 local elections. In 1986, Oregon voters amended the state Constitution to cut off registration 20 days before an election.

"It's a real tragedy to have your system based on the Rajneesh," Bradbury told the committee.

The measure, House Joint Resolution 43, was also supported by several other witnesses, who argued that it would boost voter turnout, especially among young people. But Annette K. Newingham, representing the Association of County Clerks, warned that Election Day registration could increase election process errors by swamping elections officials with last-minute registrations.

Marc Lucca, chairman of the Oregon Young Republicans, also opposed the measure. "We oppose this because we believe in personal responsibility," he said. "What young people need is to be held accountable for deadlines."

The committee did not vote on the joint resolution.

Edward Walsh: 503-294-4153; edwardwalsh@news.oregonian.com