TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A federal judge held a hearing Thursday to consider further extending voter registration after Florida’s online system crashed in the hours leading up to Monday’s registration deadline.
In response to the website failure, Secretary of State Laurel Lee extended the deadline until 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Several voter rights groups, however, filed a lawsuit to demand additional time for registration of Florida voters.
The suit seeks a judge’s approval to giving potential voters two more days of registration beginning from the day the order would be signed.
During Thursday’s hearing, the plaintiffs argued that the extension to remedy the issue was sudden and didn’t allow enough time to mobilize for another registration push.
However, the state said tens of thousands were able to register online during Tuesday’s extension, which more than offset the number of voters who were unable to access on Monday.
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The state also argued that registering additional voters so close to the election would be a burden to supervisor of elections offices and could result in thousands of provisional ballots.
At the end of the two-hour hearing, the judge said he would take the issue under advisement and make a ruling later in the day.
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