Judge OKs deadline for changing party enrollment before primary

ALBANY — A state judge has approved a request by the state Board of Elections to set an Aug 12 deadline for a voter to change his or her party enrollment in time for the Aug. 23 primary, according to the decision posted Thursday.

State Judge Patrick McAllister of Steuben County said any applications to switch parties on or after Aug. 12 won’t become effective until Aug. 30, after the primary.

McAllister agreed that the deadline should be set to avoid “party raiding” by members of one party who might choose to enroll in an opposing party to disrupt that party’s vote for candidates. That disruption could include stacking votes for a candidate least likely to do well in the general election in November.

Before McAllister’s decision, voters could have switched parties up to and including the Aug. 23 primary, after early voting and mail-in voting were already underway.

McAllister was the judge who ruled in a case that resulted in scheduling the unusual August primary for congressional and state Senate seats. The primary for governor and Assembly was held in June as scheduled.

The August primary was created when McAllister ruled the new election district maps drawn by the Democratic majorities of the Senate and Assembly were improper under law and had to be redrawn. While the primary was delayed so new election districts could be crafted, the decision didn’t address the “blackout period” in law that usually restricts voters from switching parties close to a primary.

McAllister said he made the decision to “prevent persons not in sympathy with a party from changing parties for the sole purpose of ‘raiding’ or influencing another party’s primary election,” according to the decision.

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.