The Florida Democratic Party [party website] filed a federal lawsuit [complaint, PDF] on Sunday against Governor Rick Scott [official website] requesting he extend the voting registration period in the state an extra week due to Hurricane Matthew. Currently the voter registration period in Florida for the upcoming presidential election ends on Tuesday. The complaint states that Scott refused to extend the voter registration period despite ordering millions to evacuate their homes as the hurricane was approaching. Because of the effects of Hurricane Matthew, the plaintiffs argue that citizens will face the tough decision of risking their safety to register to vote, and even if they decide to register, many election offices are closed. They further claim this will prevent thousands of Floridians from registering to vote. The plaintiffs’ complaint argues that refusal to extend the registration period places and undue burden on the right to vote under the First and Fourteenth Amendments [LII materials] to the US Constitution, is disparate treatment favoring residents who live inland, and violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 [DOJ backgrounder] because it abridges voting rights for minorities.

Voting issues have become especially contentious as the presidential election approaches. Last week a federal court issued [JURIST report] a preliminary injunction in favor of the Pyramid Lake and Walker River Paiute Native American tribes challenging Nevada’s voting procedure of failing to provide polling places on Native American reservations. Late last month California Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation [JURIST report] clarifying felons’ voting rights. The law now clarifies that those sentenced under the third category of Criminal Justice Realignment Act of 2011, a term in county jail, are not stripped of their constitutional right to vote and confirms that only those serving a state-prison sentence or on parole and under California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation supervision lose the right to vote. Earlier in September a judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted a motion [JURIST report] blocking Illinois from allowing voter registration on Election Day in the state’s most populated counties. The week before the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit struck down [JURIST report] a procedure implemented by the Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted that effectively eliminated inactive voters from registration rolls if they failed to respond to letters requesting confirmation of their status and addresses.