Voting at Christmas? Primaries Creep Forward
Thanks to the shuffling of primary dates, some people could be voting as early as December. Chris McGrath/Getty Images hide caption
The first votes in the 2008 presidential election could be cast before the year is out. That's because New Hampshire may move its primary to December, now that Florida and Michigan have moved theirs to January.
Despite all the election-year maneuvering to hold the earliest primary, Pennsylvania State professor Robert Speel argues the primary system isn't necessarily worth bickering over. Speel says that back a century ago, when candidates were still chosen at conventions and the primaries were essentially a testing ground.
"New Hampshire went first early on, and ever since they've insisted on going first," he says. New Hampshire's decision on when to schedule its primary will come as early as Friday. State law requires it to hold the primary a week before any other state votes.