Good News on the Voting Rights Front

[smofbabe]

Breaking news: Florida Governor Charlie Crist has extended the hours available for early voting from 8 hours a day to 12, which means less possibility for a meltdown on Election Day and guarantees that more Floridians will be able to vote who might otherwise not have been able to do so. Although, cynically, this is also a way for Florida to avoid hitting the news again as a problem state on Election Day, it's still a very principled move by a Republican governor, especially one with such close ties to Bush, as early voting is clearly trending to Obama in this key state.

Comments

[wouldyoueva.livejournal.com]

I made phone calls for Move On last Sunday, and they assigned Sarasota, Florida to the party I was at. Of the folks we were able to reach, almost all had already voted. Good for Crist for doing this.

[drpaisley.livejournal.com]

Given the GOP in Florida were the ones who cut the hours to begin with, mighty paisley of him.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/54582.html

I did like the quote from the party apparatchik who said "He just gave Florida to Obama."

[sethb.livejournal.com]

Maybe getting the Obama votes cast early will make it easier to lose them.

[erikvolson.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a plan to get them thrown out in court -- if the law says that votes can only be cast at FOO times, and votes cast at !FOO times are mixed in, then you can get a ruling to throw all the early votes out.

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

One report I saw said: "Crist's Executive Order 08-217, issued Oct. 28, extends hours for early voting effective immediately... Crist said he was following the precedent of former Gov. Jeb Bush, who extended hours in the 2002 primary, and he was moved to do so primarily by news coverage of long lines."

However, I'm a little worried about this: "After hurried conferences Tuesday afternoon, the Florida Association of Elections Supervisors decided not to challenge the governor's order." That seems to leave it open to challenge later if they feel like it. However, if Jeb Bush has set a precedent and people have already voted, I don't think they could get away with a successful challenge against a Republican governor.

As I indicated earlier, I don't think anyone in Florida wants their state to have any notoriety related to elections every again!

[eackerman.livejournal.com]

Good for Charmin' Charlie for dealing with this! Once again he's earned the title of "Our favorite Republican Democrat Governor."