UPDATE 1-Elections Canada recommends keeping Oct. 21 election date after court challenge

Canada's chief electoral officer (CEO) said on Monday the national election date should not be pushed back after a federal court last week ordered him to reconsider the Oct. 21 date because it coincided with a Jewish holiday.

"At this late stage in the electoral cycle, I believe I must pay particular attention to the impact that a change of date would have on my ability to fully meet my statutory obligations with only a limited amount of time left before the general election," CEO Stephane Perrault said in a statement. While the CEO recommends the election date, it is up to the prime minister and his cabinet to decide when Canadians will go to the polls.

Federal court Judge Ann Marie McDonald's had ruled on July 23 that Perrault must reconsider the election date after an Orthodox Jewish Conservative Party candidate and a Canadian Jewish activist filed a lawsuit. In her ruling, McDonald said the CEO had not demonstrated that he had fully weighed everyone's constitutional rights when deciding to keep the election on Oct. 21, which is the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret.

On Monday, Perrault said he did not question "the sincerity of the religious beliefs" raised by the Jewish community and acknowledged observant Jews "will be precluded from voting at the polls on October 21."