Early voting hours extended via a State of Emergency
October 29, 2008
Per Executive Order 08-217, the Florida Governor extended early voting hours throughout Florida by declaring a State of Emergency. The new hours are 7AM-7PM through Friday and then 12 hours on the weekend. As before, the weekend hours will vary from county to county with some open on Sunday and other not. Check your local Supervisor’s website for more details in your county.
Is this legal? It happened in 2002 when the Governor then extended polling hours on primary election day to 9PM - the State Speaker of the House has questioned the action but says the Legislature will not challenge it.
So have people heard about this? My personal experience is yes as the early voting site I drove by this morning had a line wrapping around the building at 7:25AM despite a 46 degree temperature.
No match, no vote controversy continues
October 23, 2008
The lawyer for the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections has issued an opinion supporting the position of the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections on the “no match, no vote” law. This is a law passed back in 2006, but only recently made effective due to preclearance delays and litigation, that requires “If a completed voter registration application has been received by the book-closing deadline but the driver’s license number, the Florida identification card number, or the last four digits of the social security number provided by the applicant cannot be verified, the applicant shall be notified that the number cannot be verified and that the applicant must provide evidence to the supervisor sufficient to verify the authenticity of the applicant’s driver’s license number, Florida identification card number, or last four digits of the social security number.” The dispute is whether this can be done by a pollworker calling in to the Supervisor’s office or only at the Supervisor’s office. The Florida Secretary of State has published a summary of his position.
Election myths
October 9, 2008
I thought this article featuring a Q&A from Tampa Bay Newspapers Online with a local supervisor of elections was helpful - it lists many of the questions and myths that I’ve been hearing about and will explore more on this blog over the next couple of weeks.
Monday, October 6th is the last day to register to vote for the November Election!
October 6, 2008
Monday, October 6th is the last day to register to vote for the November Election! The registration form and information is online.