CHENANGO COUNTY – State Senator Fred Akshar (R-C-I-Colesville) is pushing legislation to consolidate primary election dates, which the local Board of Elections says may translate to big savings for Chenango County.

The New York State Senate last week passed legislation that creates a single August primary date for state and Congressional races. The bill, sponsored by Akshar, would merge the current June federal non-presidential primary and September state primary into a single election on the third Tuesday in August.

Combining those two primary elections would save the state an estimated $25 million and bring the state into compliance with federal election requirements for overseas balloting, according to Akshar.

Locally, the Board of Elections insists Chenango County taxpayers could see a savings of nearly $25,000 per year if the bill passes the Assembly.

“If they combined the June federal and the September local and state into this mid-August timeframe, it would save a lot of money here in Chenango County,” said Chenango Republican Party Commissioner Mary Lou Monahan.

Monahan added that similar legislation sponsored by the Assembly was passed by the Assembly in previous years but was stalled in the Senate. With the Senate passing legislation this time around, hopes are high that the proposal will reach the governor’s desk by early June.