Military ballots will lack a race

By Friday, the Jefferson County Board of Elections will be forced by state law to mail more than 600 military voters a ballot that doesn't include the special 23rd Congressional District race.

Commissioners are caught in the cross hairs between state laws governing regularly scheduled elections and special elections.

They must, by law, send military voters a ballot 32 days before a general election. But they also must allow 14 days after the governor's call for a special election for any potential independent candidates to collect signatures and request placement on the ballot.

Gov. David A. Paterson called the special congressional contest on Tuesday, which means commissioners in 11 counties from Madison to Clinton won't know for certain which congressional candidates will be on what lines until Oct. 13.

Sean M. Hennessey, Jefferson County's Democratic elections commissioner, said his county plans to send a second round of absentee ballots to its 460 military voters with domestic addresses as well as its 143 military voters overseas.

Mr. Hennessey said his office hasn't determined whether the second ballot will include all races or just the 23rd District race that will be omitted from the first ballot.

The U.S. Department of Justice sued the state during the special 20th Congressional District race and won, arguing successfully that the state's election schedule did not allow officials to mail military members ballots in time for the voters to receive, fill out and return them before the deadline.

"To my knowledge, we have not been contacted by the Department of Justice" about the 23rd, said John Conklin, state Elections Board spokesman.

Could this have been avoided?

State elections law provides that a vacancy occurring before Sept. 20 in a House seat can be filled through the next general election, without a need for the governor to call a special election.

If former Rep. John M. McHugh had resigned Sept. 18, the day he was confirmed as Army secretary, instead of Sept. 21, the day he was sworn in, Mr. Conklin said, the House contest would have been "forced onto the Nov. 3 ballot" without the governor's intervention.

Parties would have had to nominate candidates by Sept. 22, according to the political calendar issued by the state board. It appears that would have given commissioners enough time to include the congressional race on military ballots.

There's also the matter of Mr. Paterson's odd delay as he waited until Tuesday to call the election. The governor could have called it as early as Friday, which would have made every deadline four days sooner.

Commissioners still would have missed Friday's deadline for the first round of absentee ballots, but their second round could presumably have gone out four days earlier.