Law won't allow Levy to vote in GOP primary

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, now an enrolled Democrat, will not be able to vote for himself in a Republican primary for governor this fall, even if he formally changes his party registration Friday.

"He will not be able to vote in a Republican primary until the year after he changes his registration," John DeGrace, the Republican commissioner of elections in Nassau County, said Thursday.

DeGrace said Section 5-304 of the state election law covers a change of party enrollment, and it requires that a general election cycle pass before the registration takes effect for primary voting purposes.