Committee advances bill to move primary to May; Clean Elections amendment draws negotiation

Senate Bill 16-87 would change the state's primary election date to the Tuesday preceding Memorial Day, adjust the nomination filing window and the date used to calculate the number of signers required for nomination petitions, and includes proposed technical fixes affecting the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

Sponsor Senator Hoffman said moving the primary would reduce campaigning in extreme summer heat and could increase turnout: "It makes it easier, from a weather standpoint on those who are campaigning, and it actually increases voter participation in our primary." Staff described a Marquez amendment that would expand Clean Elections fund spending limits over a two-year period and allow greater use of the fund for public-education expenses, and noted a three-fourths enactment requirement in the amendment.

Members discussed the amendment's fiscal and statutory effects, the risk of inadvertently increasing fund distributions, the need to fix timing provisions throughout state law, and whether to delay effective dates to avoid disrupting Clean Elections timelines. Representative Marquez and others said they would collaborate on floor amendments to address timeline compatibility and effective-date concerns; the committee rejected the Marquez amendment in an immediate voice vote on the amendment motion but ultimately advanced the bill with a due-pass recommendation so the work can continue on the floor.

Next steps: Sponsors said they will coordinate technical fixes and potential delayed effective dates prior to floor consideration; the committee advanced the bill to allow further negotiation.