Panel urges earlier presidential primary

Friday, May 13, 2005
By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG -- If Gov. Ed Rendell and the Election Reform Task Force have their way, Pennsylvania's presidential primary election will count in 2008 and 2012.

Instead of continuing to hold the primary at the end of April -- by which time Republicans and Democrats already have anointed their candidates -- Rendell and the 13-member task force recommended votes be cast on the first Tuesday in March.

That way, the state's voters can have a real say in who the presidential candidates will be, they say.

The idea is to give Pennsylvania, with its 12 million citizens, more political clout in the choice of the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees.

The early March primaries would be held on a trial basis for the next two presidential election years, 2008 and 2012, to see how things work out.

"An earlier date would provide Pennsylvanians with a greater voice in the selection of the president, considering the state's electoral importance based on population," said Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro A. Cortes, chairman of the task force appointed by Rendell in December,
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