Florida Voter Registration Site Back, Democrats Skeptical
The Florida Online Voter Registration site was offline over the weekend, angering Florida Democrats who accused Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration of orchestrating the maintenance days before a national voter-registration mobilization effort.
September 23, 2019 at 01:31 PM
3 minute read
A Florida voter registration website was back up and running Sunday, hours after Democrats accused the state's Republican governor of voter suppression for taking it down for maintenance.
The Florida Online Voter Registration site was offline over the weekend, angering Florida Democrats who accused Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration of orchestrating the maintenance days before a national voter-registration mobilization effort.
Tuesday is National Voter Registration Day, which encourages local organizations and businesses to conduct voter registration drives. Last year, more than 800,000 people registered to vote on National Voter Registration Day, according to its website .
Early Sunday, the Florida voter registration site was offline.
"The Division of Elections is conducting routine maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience," the site said. Floridians who wanted to register could download an application form or contact their county supervisor of elections, it said.
"Governor Ron DeSantis knows that the Florida Democratic Party strategy of registering and turning out voters will result in victory in 2020," said Terrie Rizzo, chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party. "Shuttering the online voter registration site for 'maintenance' as we kick off our largest voter registration week is the latest act of voter suppression from a governor who has doubled down on voter suppression tactics during his short tenure."
A spokeswoman for the agency that oversees Florida's elections said in an email that any suggestion that the site was taken down for anything other than maintenance is false. The maintenance began Friday night, and advanced notice was posted on the site, said Sarah Revell, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of State.
"The routine maintenance helps increase security for the site and will also help to ensure the site is able to handle the anticipated increase in traffic on National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday," Revell said in an email.
Voter-suppression claims also have been made against Republicans in Florida over a constitutional amendment voters approved last year that would make it easier for convicted felons to regain the right to vote.
Republican lawmakers, in drafting legislation to implement the amendment, said its language about felons having to complete "all terms of their sentence including parole or probation" also meant paying all court fees, fines and restitution before being eligible to vote. Opponents have described the requirement as a "poll tax," meant to keep felons from registering to vote.
Mike Schneider reports for the Associated Press.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllCOVID-19 Death Suit Against Nursing Home Sent to State Court, 11th Circuit Affirms
Year-End Tax Planning: How Real Estate Investors Can Leverage Qualified Opportunity Funds
5 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Supreme Court Will Review Constitutionality Of FCC's Universal Service Fund
- 2'It Refreshes Me': King & Spalding Privacy Leader Doubles as Equestrian Champ
- 3Class Action Filed Against Houston Health Savings Account Firm for Allegedly Confiscating Client Funds
- 4These 2 Lawyers Just Became Florida Judges
- 5'Disease-Causing Bacteria': Colgate and Tom’s of Maine Face Toothpaste Class Action
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250