Two federal judges in the United States have rejected the extension of voter registration deadlines set for the November 5th U.S. presidential election in Georgia and Florida. They deemed the requests to delay the registration cutoff date due to hurricanes “Helene” and “Milton” hitting these states lacked sufficient grounds.
According to Reuters, some civil rights organizations argue that the two hurricanes resulted in over two hundred deaths and millions of power outages, bringing “hardship” to residents in the affected areas, impeding their voter registration before the deadline.
However, U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday (October 10), dismissed the request to extend the voter registration deadline in the state to October 14. The request was jointly filed by the NAACP Georgia chapter, the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, and the New Georgia Project.
Quoting a report from CNN, Reuters stated that Ross said in a court ruling that the arguments presented by the plaintiffs were “lacking in clarity and detail.”
“We have not heard from anyone distinctly unable to register to vote,” Ross said.
The day before, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle in Tallahassee, Florida, also rejected a lawsuit seeking a 10-day extension to the October 7 deadline. The request was jointly submitted by the League of Women Voters of Florida and the NAACP Florida chapter.
The NAACP did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Florida has been a battleground state in the past but has leaned towards conservative in recent years.
Georgia is one of the seven closely contested swing states, and these states are expected to determine the outcome of the presidential election between Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump.