Newton’s Election Commission has recommended—and the City Council’s Programs and Services Committee recently voted to approve—state requirements for early voting in the Sept. 1 primary.

And after the League of Women Voters of Newton called the commission out for removing three weeknight hours of early voting, the Programs and Services Committee added them back in.

Here’s what happened:

The state requires seven days of early voting before a primary and 14 days of early voting before a general election. For the primary requirements, those seven days must run from the 10th day before the primary up through the fourth day before the primary.

Weekend hours must be 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., City Clerk Drew Willison explained to the Programs and Services Committee.

“Our belief is that we’re providing 42-and-a-half hours of early voting for the primary and almost exactly double that for the general, and we found in the past that those hours work very well,” Willison said.

But the schedule recommended by the Election Commission in June removed a weekday evening of early voting—5 to 8 p.m.—which the city typically adds in to accommodate work schedules.

Members of the commission had determined that, with the primary scheduled the week before Labor Day, a week when many families are out of town, participation on the day of the primary may be low and so adding evening hours would be unnecessary.

The LWVN disagrees, and they want the hours added back in.

“Voting rights are core to the League’s mission and founding,” LWVN Board President Rhanna Kidwell’s letter states. “Voting is the most fundamental way in which all citizens participate directly in our democracy and, as an organization, the League’s mission encompasses safeguarding and expanding voting rights for all Americans. We believe that giving voters more options for casting votes and greater flexibility in voting hours is essential to protect the constitutional right of voters to participate in government and our democracy.”

With that, the LWVN letter urges the committee and the commission to add back evening hours for early voting.

During the Programs and Services Committee meeting, Councilor Martha Bixby asked if the evening hours could be added back, and Willison said that would require a vote by Programs and Services as well as the Election Commission.

“If you all directed us in committee to expand the hours, I would convene the Election Commission for the next City Council meeting and ask them to approve it,” Willison said. “After the next council, it would probably be tricky to get them get them together before [the primary].

And that’s what happened. The Programs and Services Committee voted to approve the plan but also added in 5 to 8 p.m. hours on Tuesday, Aug. 25, extending that day’s early voting hours to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The next meeting of the City Council is set for Aug. 10, at which point early voting hours for the primary will be essentially set in stone.

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Editor’s Note: Rhanna Kidwell, newly elected president of the League of Women Voters of Newton, is also a member of the Newton Beacon Board of Directors.