LITTLE ROCK—Arkansas’ primaries—split into two dates to give the state more heft in the presidential nominating process—may be ready to end their trial separation.

Stung by potentially record low turnout in Tuesday’s legislative primaries and non-partisan judicial races, lawmakers said the state needs to revisit its decision to move its presidential primary to February, leaving other primaries on the ballot for the third week in May.

Secretary of State Charlie Daniels said Thursday that the move contributed to the turnout in Tuesday’s races, which he said will likely be the lowest primary turnout in the state’s history.

“I think it needs to be looked at,” Daniels said. “Of course it would have been better turnout if the presidential candidates were on the ballot, even if they were already determined by May.”

For the Feb. 5 presidential primary, 544,170 voters went to the polls to cast a ballot in races that featured former Gov. Mike Huckabee and Hillary Rodham Clinton, who served as the state’s first lady for 12 years. Party leaders initially hailed the turnout—35 percent of the state’s registered voters—but legislators now say it came at the expense of down-ticket and local races this week that Daniels said likely drew less than half that figure.

“It’s not worth sacrificing district and local elections just to have a presidential primary early,” said Sen. Steve Faris, D-Malvern, who wasn’t on Tuesday’s ballot. “The most important thing is we have a good turnout for all candidates on the ballot.”

Daniels’ office said Wednesday that 253,007 voters cast ballots in 68 of the 75 counties, according to preliminary and unofficial results from Tuesday’s election. So far, that amounts to a 15.8 percent turnout among the state’s nearly 1.6 million registered voters. Natasha Naragon, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state’s office, said the state was still waiting on totals from seven counties.

The previous low for a primary turnout was 19 percent in 2000.

Arkansas moved its presidential primary to the first Tuesday in February after legislators voted for the change, saying it would give the state a greater say in the nomination process for president. Instead, the state was eventually joined by more than 20 other states that held their nominating contests that day.

“It really kind of lessened our impact for super Tuesday,” said House Majority Leader Steve Harrelson, D-Texarkana. “I think, from an economic standpoint, it would be more responsible for us to hold all our primary elections on the same date.”

But what date? Harrelson and several other lawmakers said the state should just put all the primaries back together on the third Tuesday in May, while Senate Majority Leader Tracy Steele has floated moving the lower-ticket primaries and judicial races up to February.

Faris, the chairman of the Senate’s state agencies and governmental affairs committee, suggested the state may want to look at moving the date even later, to August.

Rep. Robbie Wills, who will serve as the House Speaker in the 2009 session, said the Legislature may even want to look at splitting the difference and holding both primaries sometime between February and May.

“Having the state primaries in April or late March wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility,” said Wills, D-Conway.

Steele, who sponsored the 2005 legislation moving the presidential primary up on the calendar, said the state needs to give the earlier date another chance before scrapping it entirely. Steele said all options should be looked at if legislators revisit the primary date, but said he’s not proposing any changes.