Florida Democratic Party sues to extend early voting in south

MIAMI -- In a state where legal action often goes hand in hand with presidential elections, the Florida Democratic Party filed a federal lawsuit early Sunday, Nov. 4, to force the state government to extend early voting hours in South Florida.

The lawsuit followed a stream of complaints from voters who sometimes waited nearly seven hours to vote or who did not vote at all because they could not wait hours to do so.

Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, local election supervisors in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, where queues sometimes snaked around buildings, said they would allow voters to request and cast absentee ballots Sunday. Voters in three other Florida counties also will be able to pick up and drop off absentee ballots. State election law permits election offices to receive absentee ballots through Tuesday so long as they are cast in person.

But later Sunday, Miami-Dade's county election supervisor closed the line for absentee ballots at its Doral office after two hours because too many people showed up. It was eventually re-opened and election officials said anyone in line by 5 p.m. would be able to drop off an absentee ballot.

In a separate Democratic Party lawsuit in Orange County, a judge there extended early voting Sunday after a polling station in the Winter Park library was forced to shut down over a suspicious package. The extra hours are being offered at only one polling station.

In its federal lawsuit, filed in court in Miami,

Democrats argued that an emergency order was needed to "extend voting opportunities" before Tuesday in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. It also urged that voters be allowed to cast absentee ballots in person in the counties' main election offices. The three counties are home to about 32 percent of the state's registered Democratic voters.

With complaints streaming in from voters, the Florida Democratic Party and the League of Women Voters in Florida asked Gov. Rick Scott and state election officials Thursday to extend early voting. But Scott and elections officials rebuffed the request, saying the process was running smoothly.

Last year, Scott and the Republican-controlled state Legislature pushed through a measure to cut early voting from 14 to eight days and do away with voting on the Sunday before Election Day. Because more Democrats cast their ballots early than Republicans, the move was viewed by Democrats as an effort to blunt Democratic turnout.

Source: http://www.twincities.com/national/ci_21929154/florida-democratic-party-sues-extend-early-voting-south?source=rss

mitt romney mark zuckerberg mark zuckerberg fox news maurice jones drew Yash Chopra George McGovern