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Judge Orders Voter Registration Deadline Extended Until Wednesday
October 11, 2016
A federal judge ordered a one-day extension in Florida’s r registration deadline and seemed ready to consider a longer delay against the backdrops of the recovery from Hurricane Matthew and one of the most heated presidential races in decades.
U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said the state should continue accepting voter registration papers through 5 p.m. Wednesday. He also set up a Wednesday morning hearing to consider a request by the Florida Democratic Party to keep registration open until Oct. 18 — a week after the initial deadline was set to pass.
In Escambia County, the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections office will remain open until 7 p.m. on Tuesday and will accept registrations on Wednesday until 5 p.m.
“It has been suggested that the issue of extending the voter registration deadline is about politics. Poppycock,” Walker wrote in a 16-page ruling. “This case is about the right of aspiring eligible voters to register and to have their votes counted. Nothing could be more fundamental to our democracy.”
Still, politics swirled around the case less than a month before Florida could play a decisive role in the presidential race between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, and Republican Donald Trump. The lawsuit was filed by the Florida Democratic Party after Gov. Rick Scott, who heads a super PAC supporting Trump, said he would not extend the registration deadline in the wake of Hurricane Matthew.
Matthew lashed the state’s eastern coast late last week, prompting tens of thousands of Floridians to evacuate. Local, state and federal officials urged residents to flee, arguing that staying behind could prove fatal. At least half a dozen deaths in Florida have been attributed to the storm and its aftermath.
Throughout his order, Walker indicated he was sympathetic to voters affected by the storm.
“These voters have already had their lives (and, quite possibly, their homes) turned up-side down by Hurricane Matthew,” he wrote. “They deserve a break, especially one that is mandated by the United States Constitution.”
In the initial lawsuit, filed late Sunday, lawyers for the Democratic Party argued it was unfair for Scott to warn residents to follow evacuation orders ahead of the storm while at the same time refusing to give people more time to register after the storm displaced them and forced government offices to close.
The filing also said the effects of the decision not to extend the deadline will hurt some voters more than others. The party argues in its lawsuit that minority voters are more likely to register closer to the election, and that voters in parts of the state untouched by Hurricane Matthew will face fewer obstacles to signing up.
by The News Service of Florida with contribution by NorthEscambia.com
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