Turns out that the ballot deadline for special election in New York's 20th Congressional District, (an election slated for next Tuesday, March 31) may be put off for a week.
The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against the New York State Board of Elections, arguing that military voters overseas have not had adequate time since the election date was announced to receive and return their absentee ballots.
The Department of Justice has filed a complaint in U.S. District Court seeking to ensure that New York counts ballots cast in the special Senate election from military voters.
The suit seeks extra time for military voters to return their ballots, and has been seized upon by Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (R) and venture capitalist Scott Murphy (D), who hope to fill Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's (D-N.Y.) vacant House seat. Some estimate the snafu could affect 2,000 voters in the district.
Tedisco and Murphy are locked in a neck-and-neck race, and both national parties have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the contest.
Here's the situation: according to the Department of Defense, it takes 30 days, round-trip, to get absentee ballots to military personnel serving overseas.
Nine of ten counties in the district issued their election ballots too late, apparently depriving military voters overseas of the necessary time to receive and return their ballots.
This is in violation of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, and the Department of Justice seeks to extend the deadline for absentee ballots for an additional six days, until April 13.
New York state law, however, says that all election ballots must be counted within seven days of the election, regardless of postmark. This may prevent some military voters from actually casting ballots, if the deadline is not extended.
Both Tedisco, the Republican, and Murphy, the Democrat, support extending the deadline.
Stay tuned.
On the web:
Scott Murphy for Congress
Phonebank for Scott Murphy
Albany Project ActBlue Page