July 11 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Homeland Security officials are considering ways to delay the November presidential election if the al-Qaeda network carries out a terrorist attack aimed at disrupting the campaign, Newsweek reported, citing people it didn't identify.

The Department of Homeland Security, headed by Secretary Tom Ridge, last week asked the Justice Department to review a letter from U.S. Election Assistance Commission Chairman DeForest B. Soaries Jr. saying no agency has the legal authority to cancel and reschedule a federal election, the magazine reports in its July 19 issue, according to its Web site.

Ridge must seek emergency legislation from Congress giving his agency the power to delay the election, according to Soaries, Newsweek reported. Ridge and other officials have said they have no information about specific terrorist plots, the magazine said.

``We are reviewing the issue to determine what steps need to be taken to secure the election,'' Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said, according to Newsweek.

(Newsweek 7-19 Web)

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Lanman in Washington at slanman@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 11, 2004 13:02 EDT