DORAL, FLA. (WSVN) - Some groups in Florida have filed suit against the state to allow people more time to register to vote after the its online voter registration system encountered issues that resulted in an extension from the governor.
Several groups, such as the Florida Immigrant Coalition, have demanded Floridians get more time to register to vote.
“The failure of the administration to anticipate the traffic on the site was catastrophic and impeded a lot of people from registering to vote,” Florida Immigration Coalition spokesperson William Joel Bravo said. “We filed this lawsuit before the extension was in place, when we saw those first two days being really crucial to getting voters connected to the democratic process.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis extended the voter registration once from Monday at midnight to Tuesday at 7 p.m. after the website kept crashing.
One frustrated voter wrote to 7News, “I know of three people who have been trying to register but can’t due to the system being down.”
Another person wrote, “I’ve been trying to register to vote for the past four hours.”
“They’re investigating some of the issues that kind of what led to it, but it was inordinate amount of traffic,” DeSantis said.
The governor’s voter registration extension on Tuesday allowed people not only to register online but in person as well.
“Providing as many opportunities as possible and also providing the similar time frame from when we were experiencing the difficulties yesterday,” DeSantis said.
However, groups like the Florida Immigrant Coalition argue voters need more time due to the hiccups, and they’re also worried some may not have known about Tuesday’s deadline extension.
“As we’ve seen with the COVID-19 response, as we see with the failed unemployment system and now the online voter registration portal, it’s clearly evident that Gov. Ron DeSantis fails to see the needs of Floridians time and time again,” Joel Bravo said.
Officials said there were no reports of any major problems during Tuesday’s extension.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.