Current Schedule Obtrusive Enough Keep It Short There Is Too Much Politicking Already.

It’s only February and already the political campaign signs have sprouted like vile little tulips in yards and along streets in Spokane.

The nasty little cardboard reminders will be with us until November. That’s the price we pay during a presidential election year, when the Washington primary - for that race only - is Feb. 29.

Some government officials think it would be good to have earlier primaries for all of the local and state elections, too. But the last thing we need is more time for politicking.

The current September primary works well. By then, school has started, vacations are over and voters have some time to judge the candidates. The primary winners go onto the general election ballot about six weeks later. The election season lasts two months.

The problem is that ballot counting has slowed, primarily because so many more people are using absentee ballots. That sometimes leaves in doubt who actually won the primary. Professional politicians complain that doesn’t leave enough time to get their message across before the general election.

But that’s not a good enough reason to mess with a successful schedule. Besides, the increase in mail-in ballots likely is a short-term dilemma. Some day soon we will have online voting. That will eliminate the counting problem entirely.

A June primary would do more harm than just littering our landscapes for three extra months. Extending the campaign season would force state legislators to spend more money and spend more time raising money.

State law would have to be changed because legislators are not allowed to raise money within 30 days after the legislative session ends. If the session ends in March and the primary is in the second week of June, there may not be adequate time to raise cash and campaign. We certainly don’t want to repeal that law and go back to the days when politicians were shaking down lobbyists at the same time they were considering their legislation.

Perhaps a more important argument against a June primary is the risk of creating even more voter apathy. Voter interest can be sparked and maintained for two months in the fall. But expecting people to pay attention to issues and candidates from June clear until November is a tall order.

Why try to fix a system that isn’t broken?