Denver Press Takes Up Issue of Absentee Voting on Rosh Hashanah in State Primaries

Governor Walter Johnson of Colorado has vetoed a proposal offered by the Denver Post that a special session of the state legislature be called to amend the present primary election law to enable religious Jews in Colorado to cast absentee ballots on primary day this year, which falls on Rosh Hashanah.

The influential newspaper, asserting that unless a special session of the legislature is called quickly, 25,000 of this state’s eligible Jewish voters will be unable to participate in the primary election, said that the “state — in good conscience — cannot tolerate a situation which requires any number of its people to sacrifice their religious beliefs or neglect their civic duty.”

Gov. Johnson’s opposition to the Post’s proposal is supported by the Rocky Mountain News, which endorsed a plan offered by State Attorney-General John Metzger proposing that Jewish voters cast their ballots on Sept. 12 after sundown, before the polls close. Jewish organizations here point out that sundown on the first day of Rosh Hashanah is at 6:14, while the polls close at 7:00. They also noted that apparently the attorney-general does not know that the second day of Rosh Hashanah is also observed on the preceding evening.

Political experts are of the opinion that unless special arrangements are made to enable observant Jews in Colorado to cast mail ballots, three Jewish candidates running for the legislature may suffer considerable losses in votes. The three are Rep. Ben Bezoff, majority floor leader of the House, and Rep. James Radetsky, both of whom are candidates for the State Senate, and Rep. Marshall Marshall Quiat. It is also believed that a further consequence of the law as it stands at present would be the virtual elimination of Jews from the posts of election judges and workers.