Secretary of State Sam Reed is asking the Legislature to move Washington’s Primary Election two weeks earlier, to early August, to ensure that Washington complies with a new federal law requiring military ballots to be mailed 45 days before Election Day.

“We make it a high priority to give Washington’s military voters ample time to fill out and return their ballots, and moving the Primary date up two weeks would assure that we follow the new federal law to make sure our military and overseas voters receive their ballots in a timely manner,” Reed said.

Changing the Primary date is a key part of the bill that also would count military and overseas ballots that are returned by fax or e-mail, as long as the signed declaration accompanies the ballot and the signature is verified.

The Primary date change is the cornerstone of a package of elections-related bills that Reed is requesting legislators to enact during the 2011 session. The Secretary of State’s other elections measures include:

• Establishing Washington as a full vote-by-mail state, meaning that Pierce County would join the rest of the state in conducting its elections strictly by mail.

• Requiring absentee and mail ballots to be received by each county elections office no later than 8 p.m. on Election Day, rather than just postmarked no later than Election Day.

• Reed and Gov. Chris Gregoire have jointly requested the Legislature to suspend the 2012 Washington Presidential Primary, which would save the state budget $10 million as legislators work to fix a $4.6 billion budget deficit. Reed said the plan includes a provision that makes sure the state’s Presidential Primary resumes in 2016.

This year’s 105-day legislative session begins Monday.