Federal Judge Adopts Congressional Primary Schedule for New York

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe, of the Northern District of New York adopted a compressed 2012 calendar for New York’s congressional elections.

Judge Sharpe was critical of state election officials, who were unable to agree on a political calendar for this year’s Congressional races.  He wrote:

“New York has once again demonstrated its intransigent refusal to comply with a federal mandate protecting the federal voting rights of those serving in the military overseas and those otherwise living on foreign soil.”

Last month, Sharpe moved New York’s congressional primary date from mid-September to June 26 in order to bring the state into compliance with the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act.

Read my prior post on this complicated issue (made even more complicated by the need to have Congressional lines redrawn before the primary and petitioning period) here.

Under Judge Sharpe’s order, the number of days within which designating petitions can be circulated is reduced by 10 days to 28 days, and the number of signatures candidates must collect in order to get on the ballot is reduced by 25%.

The State Board of Elections has yet to provide specific guidance for candidates.

Because the new Congressional lines have not been adopted yet, it is possible that the number of signatures could be reduced even further.

The Daily News reports that New York City’s Board of Elections has written Judge Sharpe, expressing concern about the Presidential primary and Congressional primaries being held so close together.  Read the letter from the NYC Board of Elections to Judge Sharpe here.