GOP Advances Primary in Race for White House

The South Carolina Republican party today announced it was moving its presidential primary forward by two weeks, a move likely to trigger an early start to election-year voting.

Less populous states - including South Carolina and New Hampshire - are seeking to protect their early voting status against party officials in states such as New York, California and Florida who want more influence over the selection of presidential candidates.

A domino effect could see the Iowa caucus - the first electoral test faced by presidential hopefuls - move from January 14 to January 1, or even to December.

The chair of the South Carolina Republicans, Katon Dawson, made the announcement with officials from New Hampshire.

"We are here to stand shoulder to shoulder with our friends in New Hampshire to reaffirm the important role that both of our states play in presidential politics," he said.

The rescheduling will not affect the January 29 Democratic primary in South Carolina but New Hampshire state law requires its primaries - both Republican and Democratic - to be held a week before any other, historically on a Tuesday.

Iowa, in turn, requires its caucuses to be held eight days before any other vote. "If they move, we will move," the Iowa Republican chair, Ray Hoffmann, said before Mr Dawson's announcement.

South Carolina had scheduled its Republican primary for February 2.

In past elections, early primaries effectively determined who would have the parties' nominations because winners established themselves as front runners and rivals then bowed out of races. That meant large states with later primaries, such as California, which could vote as late as May or June, had little role in the selection process.

More than 20 states, including California and New York, have moved their 2008 primaries to February 5, the so-called super-duper Tuesday.

The primary shift creates major headaches for the parties' national committees, determined to impose discipline on the state parties - and the presidential candidates who have struggled to deal with the accelerated schedule.