DOJ Moves to Force Earlier 2012 Primary in New York (Updated)

The Wall Street Journal reports the U.S. Department of Justice has filed papers asking that federal judge Gary Sharpe force the state to move up its primary date in order to comply with the federal MOVE Act. (See this earlier post explaining the state’s need to alter its primary date to comply with the MOVE Act.)

An earlier primary date will give state election officials more time to print and mail general-election ballots to servicemen and women and other Americans overseas.

DOJ’s filing will put more pressure on the Governor and the State Legislature to enact a law moving up the primary.

New York’s primaries are currently held in early September.  The Senate’s Republican Majority has been pushing for a late August primary date, while Assembly’s Democratic Majority is pushing for late June.

If it is changed to June, an earlier primary date could impact the legislative session (which often goes through the last week in June).  The change is also likely to have significant implications for the redistricting process, in that redistricting will have to be completed earlier in the year to meet earlier deadlines on petitioning.

Judge Sharpe has scheduled a hearing on the motion for October 20th at 9 a.m.

UPDATE: DOJ’s papers are here.