Not even a Category 3 hurricane can convince Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) to extend the state's voter registration deadline. On Thursday night, hours after declaring a state of emergency and urging 1.5 million Floridians to evacuate as Hurricane Matthew nears, Scott announced the Tuesday voter registration deadline would remain in place. "Everybody has had a lot of time to register," Scott said, after Hillary Clinton's campaign requested an extension. "On top of that, we've got lots of opportunities to vote: Early voting, absentee voting, and Election Day. So, I don't intend to make any changes."
While voters may have had a lot of time to register, Talking Points Memo reported that, if history is any indication, not everyone has:
A surge of voter interest is typical in the final days before registration closes, according to those who study Florida elections. Politico reported that a remarkable 86,000 people registered to vote in the last eight days before the deadline in 2012, 40 percent of whom were Democrats, according to University of Florida political science professor Daniel Smith. Only 21 percent were Republican. [Talking Points Memo]
Scott, aside from being the Republican governor of a crucial swing state, is the chair of the pro-Donald Trump Rebuilding America Now PAC.
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The voter registration deadline in South Carolina, a state also bracing for the storm, was extended Thursday.