Federal judge dismisses challenge to Florida early voting law amendment

JURIST

A judge for the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Monday that Florida does not have to provide 96 hours of early voting for the November elections. Under a 2004 version of the state's early voting statute, the early voting period lasted 12 to 14 days with 96 hours of early voting. The statute was amended in 2011 when Governor Rick Scott signed an amendment [text] decreasing the days of early voting to eight with 48 to 96 hours of early voting. The amended version also prescribed that the voting period...