The Pittsburgh Press (October 30, 1944)
New York in battle over soldier vote; poll hours extended
Democrats want Nov. 30 as deadline; Roosevelt rules out Cleveland-Detroit visit; Governor asks 3-day extension
Albany, New York (UP) –
A fight over soldier voting developed today in a special session of the New York State Legislature.
Governor Thomas E. Dewey, laying aside his role as a presidential candidate temporarily to convene a special session to liberalize voting arrangements, proposed that the time for receiving absentee ballots be extended to Nov. 6.
The Democratic minority introduced a bill proposing that the deadline on absentee ballots be extended to Nov 30.
Nov. 3 deadline now
Under present law, the absentee ballots must be in the hands of the War Ballot Commission by Nov. 3 and counted in the proper election district, along with all over votes, Nov. 7.
In recommending an extension of time, Mr. Dewey told the Legislature in a special message that in view of the fact that absentee ballots were arriving at the rate of from 2,000 to 3,000 a day, he would favor the three-day extension of time for their receipt. He would have left the counting time unchanged.
The Democratic bill would put off the counting of absentee ballots received from Nov. 4 to 30 until a special meeting of District Canvassing Boards Dec. 2.
Voting time extended
The fight over soldier balloting overshadowed the purpose for which Mr. Dewey called the session – to extend for two hours, until 9:00 p.m., the polling hours in the state next Tuesday.
Both Houses passed the two-hour extension bill without debate.
Governor Dewey also recommended legislation to extend the voting hours throughout the state by two hours so the polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Governor Dewey’s special message was released to reporters almost simultaneously with a report by Secretary of State Thomas J. Curran showing that registration throughout the state was 6,894,785, only a little below the 1940 figure. There was a notable increase in such industrial centers as Buffalo, Binghamton, Schenectady, Rochester and Niagara Falls.
Mr. Curran said the report included duplications of Armed Forces registration in non-person election districts.
The aggregate, which was far above the 1942 figure, was only 73,925 less than four years ago when President Roosevelt carried the state against the late Wendell L. Willkie.
Buffalo speech tomorrow
Meanwhile, for the final week of campaigning, Mr. Dewey has stepped up the tempo of his activities. He speaks in Buffalo tomorrow night on a nationwide radio hookup, with a short stop en route at Rochester.
En route to Boston, where another major radio speech is scheduled Wednesday night, the special train will stop at Pittsfield, Springfield and Worcester, Massachusetts, in a bid for that state’s 16 electoral votes.
Governor Dewey has only two major radio addresses scheduled after his Boston appearance. One is before a huge rally in New York City’s Madison Square Garden Saturday night. The other is an election eve talk, probably from the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.