Democrats, civil rights groups push to increase voter registration in swing states hit by hurricanes

In the weeks following the November elections, in the wake of two hurricanes, Democrats and civil rights groups in several states, including Democratic and Republican lobbyists, launched legal challenges to extend the voter registration deadline.

This week itself in Georgia, although the voter registration deadline was on Monday, civil rights groups were denied requests for temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions.

The Georgia State Conference of the NAACP, the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, and Stacey Abrams' New Georgia Project filed their initial complaint against Governor Brian Kemp, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the National Committee Republican and the Georgia Republican Party in October. 7, arguing that not extending the deadline violates voters' rights.

Secretary Raffensberger's office responded to the court's ruling in a statement, saying, “We agree with Judge Ross, who said, 'I do not believe we have a single voter who was harmed or could have been harmed by not registering to vote. '”

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After that, the secretary also held a press conference announcing several measures taken by the State to ensure that citizens can go to the polls.

in Florida, U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle rejected a motion to issue a temporary injunction or preliminary injunction to block the October 7 deadline and extend registration for an additional 10 days.

Workers, community members and business owners clean up debris after Hurricane Helen on September 30, 2024 in Marshall, NC. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The lawsuit was initially filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in northern Florida by several civil rights groups — the League of Women Voters, the Florida Education Fund League of Women Voters and the Florida chapter of the NAACP. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Secretary of State Cord Byard. It claimed that the failure to extend the deadline constituted an “unreasonable burden on the right to vote, in violation of the First Amendment” and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

They complained that the registration deadline also favors Florida voters who were not affected by the hurricane.

Civil rights groups are suing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Secretary of State Cord Byrd, alleging that failure to extend the deadline creates an “unreasonable burden on the right to vote in violation of the First Amendment” and the of Equal Protection of the Fourteenth Amendment. (Octavio Jones/Getty Images)

Republican election lawyer Jason Torchinsky noted that requests to extend voter registration deadlines are not uncommon in Florida, saying they are “routinely denied.” In Georgia, however, Torchinsky predicted that extending the voter registration deadline would make little difference to the state's registration rate.

Kaivan Shroff, a Democratic political commentator, and Greta Bedekovics, associate director of Democratic policy at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, specifically attacked DeSantis and Kemp.

“It appears that Republican governors Kemp and DeSantis are trying to play partisan politics in the wake of this tragic natural disaster and prevent people from exercising their right to vote,” Shroff told Fox News Digital.

“However, I’m not sure that will be the case this time, because when you look at urban centers like Tampa, they have been trending red in recent years.”

“Governors in states like Georgia and Florida have issued emergency political orders in the past expanding voting and registration options following hurricanes, including during the 2022 election cycle. There is no reason they cannot do the same this year,” Bedekovics said to Fox News. Digital.

Mark Ord, director of external affairs for the Florida Department of State, applauded Judge Hinkle's decision, telling Fox News Digital in a statement that Florida's voter registration system has been operating 24 hours a day since the 2022 election, giving give voters plenty of time to register. vote. .

“State departments and election supervisors across the state have noted and published the date of October 7, 2024. The state has a substantial interest in maintaining the deadline created by the legislature,” the statement said. “We are pleased to see that the court ruled in favor of the state of Florida, recognizing a substantial state interest in maintaining the voter registration deadline and denying plaintiffs’ efforts to change Florida law.”

The roof of Tropicana Field was damaged after Hurricane Milton struck the area on October 10, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Florida. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

The plaintiff in the case is Cecily M., vice president of the League of Women Voters of Florida. Schoon expressed disappointment with the decision, saying the cases were not politically motivated

“We have been presenting cases like this for years. So how is this political?” Sun told Fox News Digital. “Before any party ran for office, we were bringing these cases.

“So we have a history of caring about voters regardless of how they vote. And, frankly, I do a lot of voter registration, and a lot of people who, when I work hard to get voter registration, a lot of them, maybe 50% of them, say, registering to vote for Trump.”

Republican election lawyer Jason Torchinsky noted that requests to extend the voter registration deadline in Florida are not uncommon. (stock)

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Fox News Digital also spoke with Chad Ennis, vice president of the conservative nonprofit Fair Elections Project, who noted that several lawsuits were filed close to the state's voter registration deadline, saying that judges who refused to extend the deadline registration “gave the right”. The deadline decision.”

“I hate to call it politically motivated, even though the left always wants voter registration by Election Day,” Ennis said. “In many cases during COVID, they used COVID as an excuse to change the deadline, and unfortunately they tried to use the hurricane to change the deadline here.”

Leslie Marshall, a Democratic strategist, told Fox News Digital that she believes refusing to expand voter registration could actually negatively affect Republicans in November.

“Because this race is so close and because Donald Trump AND the Republicans have made gains, not with women, but they have made gains with African Americans – specifically, male African Americans – they can shoot themselves in the foot with this decision,” Marshall said.

Several voting rights groups in states hit hardest by the storm called for voter registration deadlines to be extended in the wake of the storm. (Bill Ingram/Palm Beach Post/USA TODAY Network via Reuters)

Democrats on the other hand South Carolina The South Carolina Democratic Party (SCDP) was successful in its legal maneuver after suing the South Carolina Election Commission and a court judge ruling to extend the registration deadline until 14 of October.

“We are pleased that the voter registration deadline has been extended. This is not a partisan issue. This is a matter of public welfare and ensuring that the right to vote is guaranteed for all,” said SCDP President Crystal Spain.

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John Michael Catalano, public information officer for the South Carolina Election Commission, said the commission “was able to comply with the order with minimal impact on election administration. We do not anticipate this will cause problems for voters during early voting or on Election Day. .”

Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key on Wednesday night, leaving about 3.2 million people without power in Florida alone as of Thursday afternoon. Milton arrived as a Category 3 storm just weeks after Hurricane Helen hit parts of Florida before devastating North Carolina.