Federal judge rejects lawsuit to extend Florida voter registration deadline

Update: According to the News Service of Florida, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle on Wednesday rejected the request from the League of Women Voters of Florida and the Florida NAACP to reopen voter registration for the November election because of Hurricane Milton.

Hinkle said the “problem is not something that is going to be solved by the court,” and added that people could have registered to vote online Monday before the deadline. “If they had evacuated, they still could have registered while evacuating if they had a cell phone,” Hinkle said.

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After Gov. Ron DeSantis declined to extend Florida’s voter registration deadline as Hurricane Milton neared, multiple civil and voting rights organizations turned to federal court on Tuesday.

The League of Women Voters of Florida and the Florida State Conference of the NAACP, represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, filed a motion for emergency relief in the Northern District of Florida division, asking the court to force DeSantis to reopen registration.

The deadline for voter registration was Monday. Anyone who failed to register by that point cannot vote in the November election.

The organizations argue in their complaint that many of the means voters would ordinarily use to register have been inaccessible because of hurricanes Helene and Milton. They argue that at least eight counties had been issued evacuation orders, some of which came down the morning of the registration deadline.

“This year, tens of thousands of Florida residents — forced to choose between safety and exercising their fundamental right — have been denied the opportunity to register to vote,” the complaint said.

The final days of voter registration often see a flood of new registrants. But preparation for Hurricane Milton forced many League of Women Voters of Florida chapters to cancel their voter registration efforts.

On Monday, at a news conference in the state’s emergency operations center, DeSantis said the state had no reason to change the deadline.

The groups’ complaint asks the court to require DeSantis and Secretary of State Cord Byrd to reopen the period for voter registration for at least 10 days.

The governor’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.

This story was originally published October 9, 2024 at 10:59 AM.