Absentee ballot request deadline pushed back to May 26 following judge’s ruling

The office of the Idaho secretary of state issued a communication to all 44 county clerks in the state late May 22, informing them that the deadline for absentee ballot requests in the upcoming primary election would be extended to Tuesday, May 26 at 8 p.m.

According to the statement, the extension stemmed from Idaho District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill. The federal judge ruled in favor of U.S. Congressional candidate Nicholas Jones in his lawsuit against the secretary of state after the office’s website went down several times ahead of the previous May 19 deadline to request ballots.

Jones’ suit centered on concerns about equitable access to the online ballot request system, with Winmill declaring that “those who had access to the internet understood that they could rely on that [to request a ballot], that they could use the website, and it did not work,” the Idaho Press reported.