Jewish residents and organizations in Surfside, a town in Miami-Dade Count, filed an emergency lawsuit on Friday seeking to delay the town’s mayoral runoff election, arguing that the current date conflicts with Passover and will prevent observant Jews from voting.
The complaint, brought by Chabad of Surfside, the United Orthodox Synagogues of Surfside and several residents, asks a county court to move the April 7 election between Tina Paul, the vice mayor, and Shlomo Danziger, a former Surfisde mayor, to April 14.
Surfside held its general municipal election on March 17, but neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote, leading to a runoff. This year, Passover runs from April 1 in the evening until April 9 in the evening. April 7 is an “intermediate” day, in which many but not all observant Jews drive, write and generally act like they would on a normal weekday. Many try not to do work on such a day.
According to the filing, the election date creates “an unconscionable choice between their religious faith and their civic duty to vote.”
Surfside is “one of the most heavily Jewish communities in the United States, in terms of both population and observance,” per the filing. “Of its approximately 5,700 residents, an estimated 2,500 are Jewish, and approximately 35% of the Jewish population identifies as Orthodox.”
David Benger, litigation counsel at the National Jewish Advocacy Center, which helped bring the suit, stated that “a one-week postponement costs the town nothing and guarantees that every eligible voter in Surfside, regardless of religious observance, can participate in choosing their next mayor.”
