Early Voting In D.C. This Afternoon As Alternative To Passover Voting On Tuesday

The District of Columbia has a special election scheduled for Tuesday for an at-large city council member and two school board members.  Tuesday is also the eighth day of Passover on which observant Jews would not be able to vote. On April 13, D.C. Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld sued the city seeking to have the election rescheduled or polls remain open until 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday so observant Jews could vote after sundown. (Washington Post). As described separately in the Washington Post by Rabbi Herzfeld, federal district judge Emmet Sullivan denied plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction, but admonished the election board for not on its own seeking an order to extend polling hours. Judge Sullivan suggested an alternative that has been adopted by the election board. (Press release). Early voting at one D.C. site will be available today from 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Rabbi Herzfeld says he did not originally ask for that alternative because he did not want to burden others' observance of Easter. Absentee ballots ere available before April 19.