Florida fights to avoid extending voter registration

Ron DeSantis and his chief election official said the state has no reason to extend a voter registration deadline and that doing so would undermine the public’s faith in the upcoming presidential election.

The argument was made late Wednesday in a filing with the U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, where civil rights groups are suing after the state’s voter registration portal failed on Oct. 5, the last day people could sign up to vote.

Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker ordered the state to respond to the lawsuit in advance of a preliminary injunction hearing set for Thursday morning.

Lawyers for the DeSantis administration, relying on statements from state and local election officials, said reopening voter registration rolls would cause confusion in the final weeks before Election Day, when President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden will be on the ballot and officials predict record turnout in the battleground state.




https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2020/10/07/florida-fights-to-avoid-extending-voter-registration-1322333