In the run-up to the Republican Party’s Washington, DC, “state” convention on Saturday, Republican officials have announced they will extend voting hours to accommodate Orthodox Jews, who can only get to the polling stations after the end of the Jewish Sabbath.
The primary is set to take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. However, registered Republicans who sign a paper saying that they are observant Jews will be allowed to vote until 9 p.m., the Washington Post reported Tuesday.
Orthodox Jews will lalso be allowed to cast absentee ballots.
Observant Jews eschew transportation, writing and other activities on Saturdays to observe the Sabbath as a day of rest.
The report said there were so few Republican voters in DC that Orthodox Jews had the clout to affect the ballot.
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Of the 169 Republicans due to stand for election to the party’s national convention in Cleveland in July, only 11 have declared they will vote for Donald Trump, the Washington Post reported last month.
In December, Trump offended many Jewish Republicans by invoking stereotypes about Jews and business.
February’s Democratic Party caucus in Nevada also took place on a Sabbath, with the result that observant Democrats could not take part.
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