Georgia pours chilly water on DNC election plan to maneuver voting contest

Democrats had hoped for Georgia to be one of many first contests in subsequent yr's presidential primaries, however state officers poured chilly water on that proposition on Thursday.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger introduced the Peach State will maintain its presidential main on March 12, 2024, practically a month after the Democratic Nationwide Committee had hoped for.

GEORGIA BANS ELECTION OFFICES FROM ACCEPTING DONATIONS FROM NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

The DNC had Georgia holding its presidential main on Feb. 13, 2024, in its restructured schedule introduced in February, which might have made it the fourth contest within the nominating course of. Officers in Georgia got till the center of June to switch the first to adjust to the DNC schedule, however they elected not to take action.

The proposal would have moved Iowa and New Hampshire out of their lead spots, changing them with South Carolina, adopted by New Hampshire and Nevada holding their contests on the identical day, adopted by Georgia per week later. The brand new schedule was met with backlash by officers in Iowa and New Hampshire.

The mid-March date for the 2024 Georgia presidential main falls roughly in step with when the Peach State has held its main in current elections. The first was initially scheduled for March 24 in 2020, and in 2016 it held its presidential main on March 1. The 2020 main was moved again to June 9 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Georgia is predicted to be a key swing state within the 2024 election. President Joe Biden narrowly received the state in 2020, after Republican candidates had received the state in each presidential election since 1996.

The first in Georgia is predicted to fall in the course of the varied primaries nationwide, on the identical day as primaries in Idaho, Mississippi, and Washington. A number of bigger states, together with Texas and California, are presently scheduled to carry their primaries per week earlier than the Peach State's main.