ACLU had intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of two voting rights organizations
A federal judge ruled this morning that Florida must extend the deadline to register to vote in the November 2016 election to 5 P.M. on October 18 because of disruptions caused by Hurricane Matthew.
The ACLU of Florida had intervened in the lawsuit yesterday, representing two voting rights organizations – New Florida Majority and Mi Familia Vota -- whose voter registration efforts were interrupted by the storm and its effects. In a hearing this morning, ACLU of Florida Legal Director Nancy Abudu argued on behalf of the organizations that the registration deadline should be extended.
Responding to the decision, ACLU of Florida Executive Director Howard Simon stated:
“We are extraordinarily pleased that a thoughtful federal judge has extended the opportunity to participate in this upcoming important election to Floridians whose lives were disrupted by a massive hurricane. Power outages, evacuations, and the declared state of emergency from Hurricane Matthew threatened to shut thousands of voters out of our democratic process.
“Wherever you are in the state, you now have one more week to register to vote. We hope that all eligible Floridians will take full advantage of this decision and register to vote by the new deadline, October 18.”
