II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1433 

To provide for interregional primary elections and caucuses for the selection 

of delegates to political party Presidential nominating conventions. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 9, 2009 

Mr. NELSON of Florida (for himself and Mr. LEVIN) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and 

Administration 

A BILL 

To provide for interregional primary elections and caucuses 

for the selection of delegates to political party Presidential nominating conventions. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair and Representa5 tive Presidential Primaries Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INTERREGIONAL PRIMARY ELECTIONS AND CAU7 CUSES. 

8 (a) SELECTION OF DELEGATES TO CONVENTIONS.— 

9 The delegates to each national convention for the nominaVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:39 Jul 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1433.IS S1433

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1 tion of candidates of a political party for the offices of 

2 President and Vice President shall be selected by primary 

3 election or by caucus, as provided by State law. Such State 

4 law shall conform to the requirements of the national po5 litical executive committee and the national nominating 

6 convention of the political party involved. 

7 (b) TIMING OF PRIMARY ELECTIONS AND CAU8 CUSES.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—In each region described in 

10 subsection (c), the primary elections and caucuses 

11 (as the case may be) in a subregion (comprised of 

12 a State or a group of States) shall be conducted on 

13 each of the following days of each Presidential elec14 tion year: the second Tuesday in March, the first 

15 Tuesday in April, the fourth Tuesday in April, the 

16 second Tuesday in May, the fourth Tuesday in May, 

17 and the second Tuesday in June. 

18 (2) INITIAL ORDER OF PRIMARIES AND CAU19 CUSES.—For the first Presidential election with re20 spect to which this Act applies, the Election Assist21 ance Commission shall determine by lot the order of 

22 subregions in each region for conduct of primary 

23 elections and caucuses by the States under para24 graph (1). 


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1 (3) ORDER OF PRIMARIES AND CAUCUSES FOR

2 SUBSEQUENT ELECTIONS.—The subregions deter3 mined under paragraph (2) to be first in order for 

4 the first Presidential election to which this Act ap5 plies shall be last in order with respect to the next 

6 such election, and the other subregions shall advance 

7 in the order accordingly. The order shall change 

8 with respect to subsequent elections in a like man9 ner. 

10 (4) SPECIAL RULES FOR DISTRICT OF COLUM11 BIA, PUERTO RICO, AND TERRITORIES.—Any pri12 mary election or caucus for the District of Columbia 

13 shall be conducted on the same day as a primary 

14 election or caucus for the State of Maryland. Any 

15 primary election or caucus for the Commonwealth of 

16 Puerto Rico shall be conducted on the same day as 

17 a primary election or caucus for the State of Flor18 ida. Any primary election or caucus for any other 

19 territory, possession, or other entity entitled under 

20 the rules of a political party to delegate representa21 tion at the national convention of that party shall be 

22 conducted on the same day as a primary election or 

23 caucus for the States of Alaska and Hawaii. 


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1 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF REGIONS.—The regions 

2 (designated by number) and the subregions (designated by 

3 letter) referred to in subsection (b) are as follows: 

4 (1) Region 1: (A) Maine, New Hampshire, 

5 Vermont; (B) Massachusetts; (C) Connecticut, 

6 Rhode Island; (D) Delaware, New Jersey; (E) New 

7 York; (F) Pennsylvania. 

8 (2) Region 2: (A) Maryland; (B) West Virginia; 

9 (C) Missouri; (D) Indiana; (E) Kentucky; (F) Ten10 nessee. 

11 (3) Region 3: (A) Ohio; (B) Illinois; (C) Michi12 gan; (D) Wisconsin; (E) Iowa; (F) Minnesota. 

13 (4) Region 4: (A) Texas; (B) Louisiana; (C) Ar14 kansas, Oklahoma; (D) Colorado; (E) Kansas, Ne15 braska; (F) Arizona, New Mexico. 

16 (5) Region 5: (A) Virginia; (B) North Carolina; 

17 (C) South Carolina; (D) Florida; (E) Georgia; (F) 

18 Mississippi, Alabama. 

19 (6) Region 6: (A) California; (B) Washington; 

20 (C) Oregon; (D) Idaho, Nevada, Utah; (E) Montana, 

21 North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming; (F) Ha22 waii, Alaska. 

23 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT. 

24 The Attorney General may bring a civil action in any 

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1 tory or injunctive relief as may be necessary to carry out 

2 this Act. 

3 SEC. 4. REGULATIONS. 

4 The Election Assistance Commission shall prescribe 

5 such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this 

6 Act. 

7 SEC. 5. DEFINITION. 

8 As used in this Act, the term ‘‘State law’’ means the 

9 law of a State, the District of Columbia, the Common10 wealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory or possession of the 

11 United States. 

12 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

13 This Act shall apply with respect to Presidential elec14 tions taking place more than 2 years after the date of the 

15 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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