Attorneys for former President Donald Trump asked a New York judge to push back his sentencing hearing beyond Election Day on Nov. 5.

Trump’s sentencing for his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records is currently scheduled for Sept. 18.

The former president’s lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, argued in a letter to Manhattan criminal court Justice Juan Merchan that the current sentencing date comes after the start of early voting in some states. And the attorneys wrote that Trump would need time to file possible appeals after Merchan rules on Sept. 16 on the effect the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity has on the state-level case. 

Merchan, who has said he is confident in his ability to remain fair and impartial, did not immediately rule on the delay request.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which prosecuted Trump’s case, declined to comment.

“There is no basis for continuing to rush. Accordingly, we respectfully request that any sentencing, if one is needed, be adjourned until after the Presidential election,” Blanche and Bove wrote in the letter submitted on Wednesday and made public on Thursday.

Merchan has already moved the sentencing once to review the impact of the Supreme Court’s July 1 decision on presidential immunity. Originally sentencing was scheduled for July 11 after Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts on May 30 in the case involving his attempt to cover up a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. 

Trump says all the stories were false, the business records were not and the case was a political maneuver meant to damage his current campaign. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is a Democrat.

Trump’s defense argued that the payments were indeed for legal work and so were correctly categorized.

Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years behind bars. Other potential sentences include probation, a fine or a conditional discharge which would require Trump to stay out of trouble to avoid additional punishment. Trump is the first ex-president convicted of a crime.

Trump has pledged to appeal, but that cannot happen until he is sentenced.

Blanche and Bove argued in their letter seeking a delay that the quick turnaround from the scheduled immunity ruling on Sept. 16 to sentencing two days later is unfair to Trump.

To prepare for sentencing, the lawyers said, prosecutors will be submitting their punishment recommendation while Merchan is still weighing whether to dismiss the case on immunity grounds. If Merchan rules against Trump on the dismissal request, he will need “adequate time to assess and pursue state and federal appellate options,” they said.

The Supreme Court’s immunity decision reins in prosecutions of ex-presidents for official acts and restricts prosecutors in pointing to official acts as evidence that a president’s unofficial actions were illegal. Trump’s lawyers argue that in light of the ruling, jurors in the hush money case should not have heard such evidence as former White House staffers describing how the then-president reacted to news coverage of the Daniels deal.

On Wednesday, Merchan rejected Trump’s third request that he step aside from the case over the political activities of his daughter, who works as a political consultant for Democratic candidates and campaigns, including for now-Vice President Kamala Harris in 2020. In their letter on Wednesday, Blanche and Bove again brought up Merchan’s daughter and referenced one of her colleagues who is publicly supporting Harris this cycle.