The 2010 March primary election may be the last one St. Joseph ever holds.

The City Charter Review Task Force neared a final decision on its most significant change to the city’s governing document Monday at City Hall.

Pending a meeting with Buchanan County Clerk Pat Conway, the task force has set a course to move up the city’s primary election one month so absentee voters can obtain a ballot in time for the general election. The potential changes would move the primary to the first Tuesday after the first Monday of February, while the general election would remain on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of April.

The city currently holds its primary in March, which makes it difficult — sometimes impossible — for military personnel and other absentee voters to obtain a ballot for the general election. Recounts and other complications sometimes mean the primary election results are not certified in time to print absentee ballots.

The problem spreads farther than St. Joseph.

Last Thursday, the U.S. Senate attached an amendment to Defense Department legislation that requires states to provide overseas voters with an electronic ballot no later than 45 days before an election. Earlier in the month, a federal judge in Virginia ruled that the state violated federal law when it failed to mail more than 2,000 absentee ballots to military personnel and civilians who lived overseas in time for their votes to be counted in the 2008 presidential election.

“As I read that, that means we have to be able to meet that requirement to meet the needs of servicemen and women,” said Stephen Briggs, chairman of the task force.

The group will meet again to discuss other election issues before it presents its changes to the City Council.

The council formed a 14-member task force to review the charter in August 2008 after Mayor Ken Shearin proposed two changes to the document: staggered terms for council members and a change in the annual budget-approval process. Instead of voting on individual issues itself, the council established a group to review the entire document and make recommendations.

The task force’s decisions are not binding. The City Council will vote on whether to put the issues on the ballot, after which the public would have the final say on any changes.

Clinton Thomas can be reached

at clintonthomas@npgco.com.