BOSTON – Massachusetts highest court is weighing whether to grant more time to count mail ballots in the state’s Sept. 1 primary election amid concerns of U.S. Postal Service delays.
The state’s Supreme Judicial Court is slated to hear arguments Monday in a lawsuit filed by Becky Grossman.
The Democratic candidate for Congress wants to extend the deadline for counting state primary ballots by ten days so that ballots mailed by Sept. 1 have enough time to arrive at local election offices. Under current state law, mail ballots must arrive at the offices by Sept. 1 to be counted.
“Our mission is simple: Every vote postmarked by Sept. 1 should count,” Grossman said in a statement when she filed the suit earlier this week.
A spokeswoman for Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin, who is named in the lawsuit, didn’t respond to an email seeking comment Friday.
Galvin, a Democrat, has previously suggested extending primary deadlines could impact the state’s ability to send out election documents to military and overseas voters for the November election.
Monday’s hearing will take place before the full panel of judges by teleconference, and the audio will be streamed live.
Grossman, a Newton City Councilor, is among a crowded field of Democrats vying to succeed U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, a Democrat who is challenging U.S. Sen. Ed Markey in the primary.
