Date of 2020 Massachusetts primaries up in the air

Massachusetts politics are all aflutter because Congressman Joe Kennedy III is primarying Sen. Ed Markey. And voters will decide that race, and all the other state primaries ... when?

No one knows for sure.

While voters in other states already know when their primary elections will be held, Beacon Hill is slowly coming around to face another round of one of its biennial games. Just call it Let's Set the Primary Date.

Under current state law, the primary date next year falls on Sept. 15 but lawmakers have become accustomed to altering that date every two years to ensure that general election ballots make it to overseas voters on time and in compliance with a federal law, and to avoid conflicts with Jewish holidays.

This year, those holidays fall after Sept. 15 and are not a factor in the date-setting machinations. But the law requiring absentee ballots in federal elections to be available to overseas voters 45 days before the general election is coming into play again.

Read more: https://www.masslive.com/politics/2019/09/date-of-2020-massachusetts-primaries-up-in-the-air.html