II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1905 

To provide for a rotating schedule for regional selection of delegates to 

a national Presidential nominating convention, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2007 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. ALEXANDER, and Mr. LIEBERMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To provide for a rotating schedule for regional selection 

of delegates to a national Presidential nominating convention, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Regional Presidential 

5 Primary and Caucus Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) CAUCUS.—The term ‘‘caucus’’ means any 

9 convention, meeting, or series of meetings held for 

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1 the selection of delegates to a national Presidential 

2 nominating convention of a political party. 

3 (2) ELECTION YEAR.—The term ‘‘election year’’ 

4 means a year during which a Presidential election is 

5 to be held. 

6 (3) NATIONAL COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘na7 tional committee’’ means the organization which, by 

8 virtue of the bylaws of a political party, is respon9 sible for the day-to-day operation of such political 

10 party at the national level, as determined by the 

11 Federal Election Commission. 

12 (4) POLITICAL PARTY.—The term ‘‘political 

13 party’’ means an association, committee, or organi14 zation which— 

15 (A) nominates a candidate for election to 

16 any Federal office whose name appears on the 

17 election ballot as the candidate of such associa18 tion, committee, or organization; and 

19 (B) won electoral votes in the preceding 

20 Presidential election. 

21 (5) PRIMARY.—The term ‘‘primary’’ means a 

22 primary election held for the selection of delegates to 

23 a national Presidential nominating convention of a 

24 political party, but does not include a caucus, con25 vention, or other indirect means of selection. 

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1 SEC. 3. SCHEDULE. 

2 (a) SCHEDULE.— 

3 (1) FIRST ELECTION CYCLE.— 

4 (A) LOTTERY.—The Election Assistance 

5 Commission shall establish procedures for the 

6 conduct of a lottery by not later than March 1, 

7 2010, to select which of the 4 regions described 

8 in subsection (b) will hold the first primary in 

9 accordance with the schedule under subpara10 graph (B). Based on such selection, the pri11 maries shall be conducted in the following 

12 order: 

13 (i) In the case where Region I is se14 lected to hold the first primary— 

15 (I) Region II shall hold the sec16 ond primary; 

17 (II) Region III shall hold the 

18 third primary; and 

19 (III) Region IV shall hold the 

20 fourth primary. 

21 (ii) In the case where Region II is se22 lected to hold the first primary— 

23 (I) Region III shall hold the sec24 ond primary; 

25 (II) Region IV shall hold the 

26 third primary; and 

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1 (III) Region I shall hold the 

2 fourth primary. 

3 (iii) In the case where Region III is 

4 selected to hold the first primary— 

5 (I) Region IV shall hold the sec6 ond primary; 

7 (II) Region I shall hold the third 

8 primary; and 

9 (III) Region II shall hold the 

10 fourth primary. 

11 (iv) In the case where Region IV is se12 lected to hold the first primary— 

13 (I) Region I shall hold the second 

14 primary; 

15 (II) Region II shall hold the 

16 third primary; and 

17 (III) Region III shall hold the 

18 fourth primary. 

19 (B) SCHEDULE.—Subject to paragraph 

20 (3), in 2012, each State that elects to hold a 

21 primary shall hold a primary in accordance with 

22 this Act, according to the following schedule: 

23 (i) FIRST PRIMARY.—Each such State 

24 in the region selected to hold the first pri25 mary under subparagraph (A) shall hold a 

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1 primary during the period beginning on 

2 the first Tuesday in March and ending on 

3 the sixth day following such Tuesday. 

4 (ii) SECOND PRIMARY.—Each such 

5 State in the region required to hold the 

6 second primary under subparagraph (A) 

7 shall hold a primary during the period be8 ginning on the first Tuesday in April and 

9 ending on the sixth day following such 

10 Tuesday. 

11 (iii) THIRD PRIMARY.—Each such 

12 State in the region required to hold the 

13 third primary under subparagraph (A) 

14 shall hold a primary during the period be15 ginning on the first Tuesday in May and 

16 ending on the sixth day following such 

17 Tuesday. 

18 (iv) FOURTH PRIMARY.—Each such 

19 State in the region required to hold the 

20 fourth primary under subparagraph (A) 

21 shall hold a primary during the period be22 ginning on the first Tuesday in June and 

23 ending on the sixth day following such 

24 Tuesday. 

25 (2) SUBSEQUENT ELECTION CYCLES.— 

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1 (A) GENERAL RULE.—Subject to para2 graph (3), except as provided in subparagraph 

3 (B), in each subsequent election year after 

4 2012, each State in each region that elects to 

5 hold a primary shall hold a primary during the 

6 period beginning on the first Tuesday of the 

7 month following the month in which the State 

8 held a primary in the preceding election year 

9 (or, in the case where the State did not elect to 

10 hold a primary in the preceding election year, 

11 the month in which the State would have held 

12 a primary if it had elected to do so) and ending 

13 on the sixth day following such Tuesday. 

14 (B) LIMITATION.—If the States in a re15 gion were required to hold primaries during the 

16 period beginning on the first Tuesday in June 

17 of the preceding election year and ending on the 

18 sixth day following such Tuesday, the States in 

19 such region that elect to hold a primary shall 

20 hold a primary during the period beginning on 

21 the first Tuesday in March of the succeeding 

22 election year and ending on the sixth day fol23 lowing such Tuesday. 

24 (3) EXCEPTION.—The States described in para25 graphs (1)(G) and (3)(C) of subsection (b) may hold 

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1 a primary on a date prior to the beginning of the 

2 period described in paragraph (1)(B)(i). In the case 

3 where such a State does not elect to hold a primary 

4 prior to the beginning of such period, if the State 

5 elects to hold a primary, the State shall hold a pri6 mary during the period in which the region the State 

7 is in (as determined under subsection (b)) is sched8 uled to hold a primary (as determined under para9 graphs (1) and (2)). 

10 (b) REGIONS.—For purposes of subsection (a): 

11 (1) REGION I.—Region I shall be comprised of 

12 the following: 

13 (A) Connecticut. 

14 (B) Delaware. 

15 (C) District of Columbia. 

16 (D) Maine. 

17 (E) Maryland. 

18 (F) Massachusetts. 

19 (G) New Hampshire. 

20 (H) New Jersey. 

21 (I) New York. 

22 (J) Pennsylvania. 

23 (K) Rhode Island. 

24 (L) Vermont. 

25 (M) West Virginia. 

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1 (2) REGION II.—Region II shall be comprised of 

2 the following: 

3 (A) Alabama. 

4 (B) Arkansas. 

5 (C) Florida. 

6 (D) Georgia. 

7 (E) Kentucky. 

8 (F) Louisiana. 

9 (G) Mississippi. 

10 (H) North Carolina. 

11 (I) Oklahoma. 

12 (J) South Carolina. 

13 (K) Tennessee. 

14 (L) Texas. 

15 (M) Virginia. 

16 (3) REGION III.—Region III shall be comprised 

17 of the following: 

18 (A) Illinois. 

19 (B) Indiana. 

20 (C) Iowa. 

21 (D) Kansas. 

22 (E) Michigan. 

23 (F) Minnesota. 

24 (G) Missouri. 

25 (H) Nebraska. 

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1 (I) North Dakota. 

2 (J) Ohio. 

3 (K) South Dakota. 

4 (L) Wisconsin. 

5 (4) REGION IV.—Region IV shall be comprised 

6 of the following: 

7 (A) Alaska. 

8 (B) Arizona. 

9 (C) California. 

10 (D) Colorado. 

11 (E) Hawaii. 

12 (F) Idaho. 

13 (G) Montana. 

14 (H) Nevada. 

15 (I) New Mexico. 

16 (J) Oregon. 

17 (K) Utah. 

18 (L) Washington. 

19 (M) Wyoming. 

20 (5) TERRITORIES.—The national committees 

21 shall jointly determine the region of each territory of 

22 the United States. 

23 SEC. 4. STATE CAUCUS TO SELECT DELEGATES. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), in the 

25 case where a State elects to select delegates to a national 

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1 Presidential nominating convention of a political party 

2 through a caucus held by any political party which has 

3 the authority to nominate a candidate, the State shall hold 

4 a caucus during the period in which the region the State 

5 is in (as determined under section 3(b)) is scheduled to 

6 hold a primary (as determined under paragraphs (1) and 

7 (2) of section 3(a)). 

8 (b) EXCEPTION.—The States described in para9 graphs (1)(G) and (3)(C) of section 3(b) may hold a cau10 cus on a date prior to the beginning of the period de11 scribed in section 3(a)(1)(B)(i). In the case where such 

12 a State does not elect to hold a caucus prior to the begin13 ning of such period, if the State elects to hold a caucus, 

14 the State shall hold a caucus during the period in which 

15 the region the State is in (as determined under section 

16 3(b)) is scheduled to hold a primary (as determined under 

17 paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 3(a)). 

18 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

19 Nothing in this Act— 

20 (1) shall be construed as requiring a State to 

21 hold a primary or a caucus for the selection of dele22 gates to a national Presidential nominating conven23 tion of a political party; or 

24 (2) is intended to confer to the Election Assist25 ance Commission any power concerning the selection 

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1 of delegates other than that expressly provided 

2 under section 3(a)(1)(A). 

3 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 This Act shall apply with respect to any primary or 

5 caucus held in connection with a general election held in 

6 the year 2012 and in each election year thereafter. 

Æ 

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