"late filed" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it to describe something that was filed past the deadline. For example, "The project was late filed, missing its original submission date by two weeks."
I disagree, however, that the secretary is required to ignore any late filed returns absent an act of God.
As noted in my previous order, Florida law grants to the secretary, as the chief elections officer, broad discretionary authority to accept or reject late filed returns.
"Obviously, the list of scenarios is almost endless, and the questions that would need to be asked in properly exercising discretion as to whether to ignore or not ignore late filed returns are numerous," Judge Lewis wrote.
The secretary of state may ignore such late filed returns, but may not do so arbitrarily, rather, only by the proper exercise of discretion after consideration of all appropriate facts and circumstances.
Obviously, the list of scenarios is almost endless and the questions that would need to be asked in properly exercising discretion as to whether to ignore or not ignore late filed returns are numerous.
Judge Lewis said that nothing in the law compelled Ms. Harris to accept late filed returns, but he said that by announcing "ahead of time that such returns will be ignored," unless "caused by some act of God, is not the exercise of discretion; it is the abdication of that discretion".
I was late filing another sexual-assault story.
The United States was nearly five years late filing its report.
Force India are over three months late filing their 2008 accounts.
To the extent that the laws of Florida permit her and the commission to exercise discretion to excuse late-filed returns, see Section 102.112(1), the secretary of state has reasonably exercised that discretion not to permit logistical difficulties in accomplishing a manual recount to excuse a county canvassing board's late filing of returns.
His businesses have been late filing accounts in previous years.
