On April 27, Alabama’s HB 51 was signed into law, moving Alabama’s presidential primary from the first week in June, to the first week in February.

On April 28, New Hampshire’s HB 1125 was signed into law. Although New Hampshire already has had the nation’s earliest presidential primary of any state, the new law gives the Secretary of State power to set any date for the presidential primary, and also power to set any qualifying period for candidates in that primary. New Hampshire feels it needs to give its Secretary of State this authority, to defend its “first” primary status.