NORWICH – The Chenango County Board of Elections is joining a state-wide plea to combine the 2016 presidential and congressional primary elections in a move that could save taxpayers in New York State more than $50 million.

The county recently joined a petition administered by the New York State Association of Counties calling on the governor and legislative leaders to combine next year's presidential and congressional primaries. NYSAC argues that doing so would save counties across the state tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of dollars in election costs.

In the last presidential election year in 2012, Chenango County taxpayers alone fronted nearly $25,000 more than what was necessary in order to meet expenses of presidential and congressional primaries, according to the Chenango County Board of Elections.

And with 2016 primaries less than a year away, many counties, including Chenango, are saying the time to consolidate federal primary elections is now.