An item on the Lawrence City Commission’s legislative update should remind city officials of a matter that needs to be discussed well before the next city elections in 2011.

Tuesday’s commission agenda includes an update of SB 422, which would amend the statutes governing local primary elections. The goal of the bill is to clear up confusion caused by a bill passed in 2008 raising the number of candidates needed to trigger a primary election in local city council/commission or school board races.

The new law, which affected last year’s local elections in Lawrence, eliminated the need for a primary election unless 10 or 11 (the statute isn’t entirely clear) or more people filed for three city commission or school board seats. Previous law triggered a primary election whenever there were twice as many candidates as there were seats available: six candidates for three seats, etc.

In both the 2009 Lawrence school board and city commission races, eight candidates filed for three seats, meaning a primary would have been required under the old law. As it was, all 16 candidates advanced to the general election.

The central goal of the new law was to reduce the need for communities to spend the money to have primary elections. In some cases, small towns preferred not to hold a primary when the field needed to be narrowed by only one or two candidates.

However, there also is a down side to eliminating the primaries. In Lawrence, the primary election for city commission and school board often provides a useful preview to the main event: the general election. Although primary turnout usually is low, the election serves as a first read on the candidates and helps voters learn more about the candidates they will choose among. It also helps create more interest in what should be very important races for the local offices that have a direct impact on our daily lives.

The City Commission agenda indicates that the League of Kansas Municipalities does not support this year’s clarifying legislation primarily because cities already are allowed to opt out of the new primary rules by adopting a charter ordinance. There was passing mention of adopting such an ordinance in Lawrence before the 2009 election, but the discussion occurred so late that the city couldn’t have met the legal deadlines to make the change before a March primary.

Regardless of what happens with SB 422, Lawrence city commissioners should take the initiative to look at exempting the city from the new primary rules. Although eliminating many primaries may work well in small communities where everyone is well acquainted with the candidates, primary races serve an important purpose in Lawrence. Last year, officials estimated that primary elections would cost the county about $40,000. Even in a tight economy, that seems like a good investment.