Under existing law, primary elections for offices other than municipal offices are set to occur in May on the Tuesday preceding Memorial Day, except in years when a presidential primary is occurring, in which case the primary election is set for the first Tuesday in March. Also under existing law, a special primary election can be called by the Governor or as provided by law. This bill would require a new special primary election to be held if: (i) the boundaries of one or more legislative or congressional districts to be used in the next general election are changed or altered by either an act of the Legislature or by final order, judgment, or mandate from a state or federal court which permits or requires the use of legislative or congressional district boundaries, and (ii) the change or alteration is made at a time too late to be accommodated during the normal primary election schedule. This bill would specify that the special primary election would only affect those districts impacted by the redistricting. This bill would provide further for the qualification of candidates affected by the redistricting.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 17-13-3