(The Center Square) — New Hampshire’s state primary would move to June under a bipartisan bill headed to Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s desk for consideration.
Legislation that cleared the state House of Representatives on Thursday on a voice vote moves the every-two-year state primary vote up three months from the second Tuesday in September to the second Tuesday in June beginning in 2028. The measure was previously approved by the state Senate, which had sent it back to the House for final approval.
Backers of the bipartisan proposal say it would boost voter turnout and help challengers running for state and local elected offices. Critics say the late primary date — which some call the “incumbent protection plan” — doesn’t give winning candidates enough time to prepare for the general election.
Ayotte, a first-term Republican, previously expressed support for a June primary date as lawmakers were debating the switch earlier this year. She has 10 days to approve it, veto it or send it back to lawmakers with recommended changes.
Secretary of State David Scanlan, who oversees the state’s elections, is among the supporters of moving up the primary data but has said he would prefer an August primary date. He has noted that a June primary would mean a candidate filing period in March, in the middle of town elections and town meetings.
New Hampshire has wrangled over its early state primary date for years. In 2021, then-Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have moved the state primary elections to the first week of August. Sununu, a Republican, said moving the date to August would disenfranchise Granite Staters who are on vacation that month and dampen voter turnout.
While New Hampshire is known for its ‘first-in-the-nation’ presidential primary, the state’s primary date – held on the second Tuesday in September since 1910 – is one of the last in the nation. Only Rhode Island holds a later state primary.
A 2022 University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll showed at least 86% of voters support moving the state’s primary date to June.
