Federal Judge Sets June Primary for Federal Offices in New York

In a suit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice against New York State, U.S. District Court Judge Gary Sharpe has ruled that New York’s primary election for federal offices (U.S. Senate and House seats) in 2012 will be held on June 26.  Read the decision here.

New York’s Presidential primary will be held on Tuesday, April 24.

New York State had to change the date of its primary elections because the regular September date did not comply with the federal Military and Overseas Voter (MOVE) Act. The MOVE Act required that ballots be transmitted to military and overseas no later than 45 days before an election for a federal office. The state was granted a waiver from the 45-day requirement for the 2010 elections, but the waiver request was denied for the 2012 elections.

Judge Sharpe’s decision allows the state to change the primary date, so long as the new date meets the standards set out by federal law (at least 80 days before the November 6, 2012 federal general election).

If the June 26 date holds, the petitioning process (through which candidates get on the primary ballot) will likely begin some time in April.

The Governor and the Legislature could keep the state and local primaries scheduled for September, but that would require counties and the City of New York to hold (and pay for) three separate primary elections this year.

Read this earlier post for more background on this somewhat complicated issue.