TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Floridians will get one more week, through Tuesday, Oct. 18, to register to vote, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. The move could tip the balance of a pivotal swing state as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump make their pitch to voters in the final month of the campaign.
After a one hour hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Walker ruled the right to vote was fundamental and shouldn’t be jeopardized because of a natural disaster like Hurricane Matthew.
“Hopefully it’s not lost on anyone that it’s the right to have a voice that is why this country exists,” Walker said after issuing his ruling.
The original voter registration deadline was Tuesday, Oct. 11, but Walker on Monday extended it by 24 hours to have time to hear arguments in the case,
The suit was filed Sunday by the Florida Democratic Party after Gov. Rick Scott refused to extend the deadline due to disruptions caused by Hurricane Matthew.
“I think everyone’s had enough time to register,” Scott told reporters last week.
But attorneys for Scott and for the Florida Department of State, which oversees elections, did not contest the motion to extend on Wednesday, saying they had no position on the matter.
Lawyers for the FDP and two left-leaning groups that joined the case, the League of Women Voters of Florida and the American Civil Liberties Union, argued the deadline be extended to Oct. 18 because Hurricane Matthew disrupted options to register by mail and mandatory evacuations disrupted lives.