Federal judge denies request to reopen Florida voter registration for general election after Hurricane Milton

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A federal judge Wednesday night rejected an emergency request to extend Florida’s voter registration deadline for the 2024 general election despite disruptions caused by Hurricane Milton.

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The League of Women Voters of Florida and the Florida NAACP filed the lawsuit, arguing that Milton’s impending landfall and lingering effects from last month’s Hurricane Helene prevented many residents from registering before Monday’s deadline. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, aimed to extend the registration period by 10 days.

Hurricane Milton landed as a strong Category 3 storm on Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday night, posing a new threat to communities already affected by Hurricane Helene, which hit the state on September 26. The storms led to mass evacuations and widespread damage, leaving many areas still grappling with power outages and infrastructure destruction.

However, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration opposed the request, and U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled against it Wednesday.

“The problem is not something that is going to be solved by the court,” Hinkle stated, adding that the registration deadline, set by the Florida Legislature, could not be altered through a judicial decision.

Hinkle noted that residents could have registered online before the deadline, even while evacuating.

“If they had evacuated, they still could have registered while evacuating if they had a cell phone,” he said.

READ: LINKS: Monitor power outages from Hurricane Milton in Northeast Florida, Southeast Georgia

Hinkle also discussed the importance of not extending the deadline, citing the pressure on election officials preparing for what could be “the most closely watched election ever.”

The lawsuit raised concerns about the impact of consecutive hurricanes on voter registration efforts and also raised First Amendment and constitutional equal protection issues. The plaintiffs, represented by Southern Poverty Law Center attorney Matletha Bennette who represented the groups during a hearing on Wednesday, argued that many people were more focused on evacuating than registering to vote.

“There are probably tens of thousands of voters who will be disenfranchised,” Bennette warned, pointing to cancellations of voter registration drives, including one at the University of South Florida.

Attorney Mohammad Jazil, representing the state, countered that voters had the option to register online and that election officials were already facing a tight timeline with early voting scheduled to begin in some counties on Oct. 21.

“We have a very truncated schedule,” Jazil said, noting that election supervisors only have 13 days to process voter registrations.

The material in this article includes contributions from the News Service of Florida.

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