Concord – Unofficially, the New Hampshire presidential primary campaign has been under way for more than a year. Officially, it will begin in 16 days, when candidates can begin filing their names for the primary ballot.

Preparing for the earliest first-in-the-nation primary election ever, Secretary of State William Gardner announced yesterday the filing period will open on Oct. 15 at 8 a.m. and close on Nov. 2 at 5 p.m.

Gardner took advantage of a change made this year in a state law that allows him to set the date whenever he think it is necessary in order to protect the leadoff status of the primary. As a result of his decision, the filing period will be three weeks earlier than it would have been under the old law.

Gardner's move does not answer the key question on the collective mind of the political community in New Hampshire and beyond. He said he has not yet decided on the date of the primary, which, by law, must be at least seven days before any "similar election."

But, Gardner reiterated in an interview yesterday, the primary will be no later than Tuesday, Jan. 8, due to moves by other states - most recently Michigan - to grab early positions in the presidential nominating calendar and try to usurp at least some of the national attention the Granite State receives.

"That still stands," said Gardner of the date. "The Legislature this year provided the tool necessary for us to have that flexibility to comply with the law."

In the 2000 and 2004 cycles, the filing period, as set by the previous law, was the first Monday through the third Friday of the November preceding those primaries. In several previous cycles, the filing period was in December of the preceding year.

Michigan lawmakers recently passed a law scheduling a primary for Jan. 15. South Carolina Republicans, in deference to New Hampshire but trying to stay ahead of upstart Florida's Jan. 29 date, have scheduled their "first-in-the-South" primary for Jan. 19.

Iowa has traditionally held its first-in-the-nation party caucuses eight days before the New Hampshire primary. But, according to an Associated Press report yesterday, Democratic and Republican party officials are considering holding their event Jan. 3, 4 or 5. But they say they will hold off in a final decision until Gardner sets New Hampshire's date.

Gardner said yesterday he has spoken with Iowa Secretary of State Michael Mauro about the calendar, but not with officials of the political parties, which, in Iowa, run the caucuses.

New Hampshire's primary is state-run, and the filing period, while serious business, is also one of the traditional news media events of the primary season.

Beginning on the morning of Oct. 15, candidate after candidate will enter Gardner's State House office, sit down at a large table and sign the necessary paper.

They'll pay the $1,000 filing fee, or if they can prove indigence, they'll turn in the required 10 petition signatures from each of the state's 10 counties.

Major candidates are sure to make a "photo op" out of it. Some will want to be among the first to file; others will wait for the early rush to calm down to draw attention to themselves. Most, if not all, will probably voice their support for New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation status.

And many, perhaps dozens, of political unknowns will show up and file, largely unnoticed by the national news media. It's all part of primary lore.

Gardner said his office will be open between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays of the filing period but until 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 2.

He said that when the filing period closes, about 50,000 absentee ballots will be printed immediately and sent to each city and town with instructions not to open the packages until the primary date is set, if it has not already been set by that time.

He said he wants to have the absentee ballots at the city and town halls at least 30 days before the date of the primary so they can be sent out and returned by the close of the polls on primary day. He will then order the printing of about 600,000 standard ballots, which will arrive at local voting places shortly before the primary date.

Gardner and other primary supporters have said the Secretary of State's office's ability to quickly print and distribute the ballots helps Gardner outmaneuver officials in other states that try to encroach on the New Hampshire leadoff position and one-week post-primary window.

Gardner said about 1,100 letters were mailed yesterday to each voter checklist supervisor in the state alerting them to the filing dates and asking them to update their voter checklists on the evening of Nov. 2.