ALBANY – The State Assembly passed legislation to combine New York State’s primary election with the federal primary on June 28. The state primary is set for September.
Assembly members say combining the two would bring the state in compliance with the federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, which ensures military and overseas voters are able to participate in the electoral process.
The bill to combine the primaries is in a Senate committee.
In the Mid-Hudson Valley, Orange County Democratic Chairman Brett Broge supports the effort.
“We hear all sorts of things about consolidation of government services and certainly this is an idea whose time has come. It is certainly something that should have been done a long time ago. I hope the Senate passes the bill as well,” Broge said.
But, Republican Ulster County Chairman Roger Rascoe, who supports a combined primary, said to hold it in June leaves the party with insufficient time to rally its forces.
“It’s just not feasible for us in this short order to put together conventions at the county level to get our candidates lined up,” Rasco said. “We have already geared up and spoken to some folks and we are looking at May for our convention where we do our petitions in June. We need a little more notice than this in order to be effective.”
It is estimated that a combined state and federal primary would save local taxpayers $25 million.
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