A bill to move the state's primary elections from September to August is lingering on the Senate calendar. Moldering, you could say.

That's because supporters aren't sure they have the votes to pass the bill, which came out of Senate Government Operations Committee with a 3-2 vote.

A 3-2 committee vote, though it was tight, is not necessarily an indication that a bill wouldn't pass the full Senate easily. The two who voted against it in committee are Republicans and there are only seven Republicans in the 30-member Senate.

So this means that the proposal to move the primary is not being embraced by some Democrats, though it would give their party more time before the general election to sort out the scramble for the gubernatorial nomination next year.

The thing about moving the primary is the lack of a really good place to move it to. August, as Sen. William Doyle, said is a "weird" time for an election. July would fall in that same category. June is kind of early.

Based on the bill's lack of movement, I wouldn't bet on any changes for 2010.

- Terri Hallenbeck