Judge extends Florida voter registration deadline to Wednesday

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (CNN) — A federal court has extended Florida’s voter registration deadline from Tuesday to 5 p.m. ET Wednesday due to Hurricane Matthew’s interruption of last-minute sign-ups.

The US District Court ruling comes after the Florida Democratic Party sued Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, seeking an additional week due to the “strong likelihood” many of the state’s voters would be “severely burdened” by the hurricane’s fallout in the upcoming election.

Scott had opposed the extension, saying last week that “people have had time to register.”

In court papers, Marc Elias, who serves at the general counsel for Hillary Clinton’s campaign, argued that Scott “unambiguously ordered” Florida citizens to evacuate, and now some voters have been prevented from being able to register which might decrease “the overall likelihood” that the party will be successful in helping to elect Democrats.

“We are thrilled with today’s ruling and we look forward to making our case on Wednesday for extending the voter registration deadline to October 18th,” the Florida Democratic Party said in a statement. “This is a win for the people of Florida.”