Rep. Sander M. Levin, D-Mich., introduced legislation March 14 that would endeavor to do this by dividing the states into six “interregions” that would include at least one state from each of six geographic areas of the nation. The six interregions would hold their primary and caucus voting in regular intervals between early March and early June of the presidential election year.
The first interregion to vote would be determined by lot and would cast ballots on the second Tuesday in March of the presidential election year. The next interregion would vote three weeks after the first region; each subsequent interregion would vote two or three weeks later, until the sixth and final grouping of states.
This legislation is a timely response to the rampant leap-frogging we've seen from several states in just the last few weeks, leading to a de facto national primary of sorts in late January/early February - benefitting those candidates with the most money. I don't like the idea of regional primaries either, since it's possible that a candidate may garner enough delegates to win the nomination before even having to appeal to an entire geographic region, if not several.
I think this bill sets the right balance across geopolitical lines, between big and large states, and eliminates or at least lessens the impact of states who hold their primaries and caucuses first.
The question now is whether there's enough political will to pass such a major overhaul.
1 comment:
It's past time we brought some sense to the process.
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