Georgia and New Hampshire miss key deadline for Democratic primary calendar change
Barnini Chakraborty
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A push by President Joe Biden to overhaul the Democratic presidential primary calendar hit a snag Friday after two states were unable to meet a key deadline.
Jim Roosevelt and Minyon Moore, co-chairs of the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic National Committee, asked for more time for Georgia and New Hampshire to hammer out issues preventing them from complying with the proposed changes.
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“We expected both the New Hampshire and Georgia efforts to be complicated but well worth the effort if we can get them done,” the duo wrote. “We remain committed to doing all we can to see our plan through.”
The co-chairs said they are planning to hold a committee meeting on granting extensions before the full DNC meets next month to vote on the proposed calendar.
In December, the committee approved a provisional calendar that would elevate South Carolina as the first state in the nation to vote in the 2024 presidential primaries, bumping Iowa and New Hampshire from the top spots. The new calendar has the Palmetto State voting on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada three days later, Georgia on Feb. 12, 2024, and Michigan on Feb. 27, 2024.
South Carolina, a state with a large black population that helped deliver Biden the 2020 nomination, was picked in part because of its diversity, as was Georgia.
Before the DNC signs off on the changes, the five states must prove that they are moving to hold their primaries on the new dates, which in some cases has been easier said than done.
In South Carolina, the primary date is set by the party chair. In Michigan, Nevada, and New Hampshire, the dates are set by law and can only change if the law is changed. In Georgia, a date change can only happen if the secretary of state signs off on it.
For New Hampshire to stay one of the early states, it must also show that it intends to expand access to early voting. If it is unable to do so, the state could be penalized, forced to hold its primary at a later date, and lose half of its delegates.
New Hampshire Democrats have argued that they don’t have the power to change their election laws because Republicans control the state legislature and occupy the governor’s mansion. So far, the GOP has been unwilling to play ball.
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In Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he wanted both party’s primaries to fall on the same day so the state’s election workers would not be stretched too thin. He also wanted promises that a calendar move would not result in either party losing delegates.
It is unclear if he got any of those assurances. His office did not respond to repeated requests for comment by the Washington Examiner.