R.I. Governor Vetoes Primary Date Change
Gov. Don Carcieri said Monday he has vetoed a bill moving Rhode Island's presidential primary up a month to Feb. 5, a surprise move made just days after the Republican governor signaled he would let the bill stand.
Lawmakers in the Democratic-dominated General Assembly last week suddenly revived a bill to move up the primary during a special session. They argued tiny Rhode Island would become irrelevant in presidential politics unless it joined some two dozen other states that have set their presidential primaries or caucuses for Feb. 5.
Presidential candidates rarely stop in Rhode Island for anything but a quick fundraiser.
In a veto message, Carcieri said changing the March 4 primary date so late in the year could create havoc for local voting officials, who did not have a chance to testify about the bill before it passed. His office also released letters from voting officials in more than half of Rhode Island's 39 cities and towns who said they opposed a February primary.
Carcieri said he would have supported the legislation if lawmakers acted earlier.
Moving up the primary election would require adjusting a host of other related deadlines, said Laurence Flynn, executive secretary of the Providence Board of Canvassers. Flynn had urged Carcieri to veto the bill, saying it would cause an "administrative nightmare."
"We would have to spend money at Christmastime to bring people in on overtime to meet the deadlines necessary for a February election," he said.
Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in the House and Senate, but they are not scheduled to meet again until January. House Speaker William Murphy and Senate President Joseph Montalbano have not decided whether to attempt an override vote, their spokesmen said.
Murphy accused Carcieri of changing his position just to appease fellow Republicans who opposed an earlier primary.
"The governor stated that he supported the bill and then he turned around and vetoed it," Murphy said in a written statement. "The governor's actions are politically motivated."
If lawmakers want to overturn Carcieri's veto, they face pressure to act quickly. Under the existing law, election deadlines have already passed or are quickly approaching.
Sen. Leo Raptakis, the Democrat who sponsored the bill, said he believed there was not enough time left to attempt a veto override, and was critical of lawmakers who sat on the bill for months, then rushed it through at the last minute. The Senate passed a version of his bill in May, but House lawmakers never considered it before adjourning in June.
Legislative leaders revived the bill without advance notice during a chaotic one-day special session.
"We're going to be spending a lot of money for a presidential primary here in Rhode Island where the voter turnout will probably be the lowest ever in history," Raptakis said.