Judge gives Florida voters more time to register after hurricane

Updated

Oct 12 (Reuters) - Residents of Florida were given six extra days to register to vote in the Nov. 8 election by a U.S. judge on Wednesday following the disruption caused by powerful Hurricane Matthew in the state last week.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee extended the registration deadline to Oct. 18, after the Florida Democratic Party filed a lawsuit seeking more time, court records showed. The original deadline to register had been Tuesday, before Walker ordered a one-day reprieve to allow for a hearing on the matter on Wednesday.

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Florida Democrats had argued that voters were forced to decide between their safety and their right to vote when Republican Governor Rick Scott ordered mandatory evacuations along a stretch of the state's Atlantic coast as Matthew approached.

"No right is more precious than having a voice in our elections," Walker said during a hearing on Wednesday, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

More on the hurricane

The governor's office did not immediately comment on the judge's order.

Florida is a key state in the presidential election between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, with polls showing a close race there.

The powerful hurricane, which killed around 1,000 people in Haiti as it churned through the Caribbean, is blamed for at least 30 deaths in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. North Carolina officials have warned of continued flooding this week from swollen rivers.

In past presidential election years, up to 20 percent of all new registrations in Florida were filed during the week before the deadline, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, which helped bring the lawsuit.



​​​"While we wish it had not taken a lawsuit to get the Scott administration to do the right thing, today's ruling is a major victory for all Floridians and for the democratic process in the Sunshine State," the Florida Democratic Party said in a statement.

South Carolina extended its registration deadline due to Matthew from Oct. 7 to Oct. 11, while Georgia declined to do so. North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, whose state's deadline is Friday, said on Tuesday there were no plans to add more time but that it remained a possibility. (Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Frances Kerry and Alistair Bell)


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