Democrats are pressing Loudoun County officials to make it easier for absentee voting in next month’s special election to replace Virginia state delegate Barbara Comstock — a fight they’re unlikely to win, and which shows how close the race may be.

In a letter sent Thursday to Loudoun County Administrator Tim Hemstreet, the county Democratic party argued that the county’s elections office should be allowed to open a satellite location for in-person absentee voting in the eastern portion of the county that includes the 34th District.

The elections office tried earlier to accommodate that request, but decided against the move when the county attorney said the move would be in violation of an ordinance requiring absentee ballots to be delivered at the county’s government office in Leesburg, county officials said.

The Loudoun County Democratic Committee argued that the ordinance doesn’t apply to special elections and called the decision politically motivated.

“This is just a plain example of voter suppression, with an all Republican board of supervisors who just hired a Republican county attorney,” Valerie Suzdak, chair of the Loudoun County Democratic Committee said Friday. “Really, all that’s happening is that they’re trying to stop people from participating in the election.”

The race to replace Comstock — who has been elected to Congress — pits Democrat Kathleen Murphy and Republican Craig Parisot in a contest for a wealthy district that includes portions of Loudoun and Fairfax counties.

But both Murphy and Parisot are receiving heavy support from party leaders who view the 34th District as strategically important.

That paints even the smallest wrinkles in the special election with political overtones.

On Friday, Murphy — who narrowly lost to Comstock in a race for the 34th District seat last year — called on Loudoun County officials to accommodate the request.

“We should be striving to make it easier for people to vote, not harder,” Murphy said, in a statement e-mailed by her campaign.

Parisot’s campaign agreed that every vote should count, but supported the Loudoun County decision.

“Our campaign believes that every qualified voter who wants to vote in this special election should have the opportunity to do so,” Parisot’s campaign manager, Sean McCort, said in an e-mailed statement. “We are confident that Loudoun County election officials share that goal and are taking the steps they feel necessary to make this election run as smoothly as possible.”

Judy Brown, general registrar of the county elections office, said she agrees it should be easier for voters in the 34th District to cast their absentee ballots in person.

But, she added, “Our hands are tied unless we can go back and change the ordinance.”

Since county supervisors don’t meet again until after the Jan. 6 election, that is unlikely to happen, a county spokeswoman said.

Brown said voters can still deliver their absentee ballots to her office inside the county elections office. Voters can also mail in their ballots before the election, she said.

Since Nov. 21, when the county opened up absentee voting for the election, just one absentee ballot has been turned in, Brown said. About 42 others mailed to voters have not yet been returned.