Usually Florida political parties wait until after elections to file lawsuits. This year, they’re getting an early start, reports the New York Times:
The lawsuit was filed after a stream of complaints from voters who sometimes waited nearly seven hours to vote or who did not vote at all because they could not wait for so long to do so.
Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, local election supervisors in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties, where lines sometimes snaked out the door and around buildings, said they would allow voters to request and cast absentee ballots on Sunday. Voters in three other Florida counties will also be able to pick up and drop off absentee ballots. State election law permits election offices to receive absentee ballots through Tuesday as long as they are cast in person.
Early lawsuits in Florida could be a preemptive strike from Democrats in case they decide to contest Florida after the election. In 2008, 54 percent of the Florida electorate voted early, according to the Early Voting Center, a much larger percentage than other states expected to be decided by a close margin, like Ohio.
On the other hand, Florida’s early voting really does seem like a complete and utter disaster:
Chaos ensued at Miami-Dade Elections headquarters Sunday when officials closed the doors early on nearly 200 people who had been promised an extra four-hour period to vote — then reopened an hour later with more staff.
“Let us vote! Let us vote!” chanted those who refused to leave the line when doors first closed. College student Blake Yagman told The Huffington Post he was next to vote when officials decided they couldn’t serve those who showed up.
“I was there for about three and a half hours,” said Yagman, who added that because he is severely hypoglycemic he spent several hours throwing up after standing in the sun for so long. He said he had already tried to vote three times earlier this week, at two different Miami locations.
“Each of the lines was about four to five hours,” he told HuffPost. “It took my mom eight and a half hours to vote at Aventura.”
This is where the enthusiasm gap could make a significant difference. Obama had a 9-point lead over John McCain in Florida early voting in 2008. But that was when Democratic enthusiasm was outpacing Republican enthusiasm. The tables are turned this year, and it’s hard to imagine someone standing in line for eight and a half hours to vote early for a candidate they’re not really that crazy about.
Then again, it’s hard to imagine someone waiting in line for eight and a half hours to vote early for any candidate. At some point between 30 and 45 minutes, isn’t the entire convenience benefit of early voting is nullified? Florida rarely ceases to surprise me, but you would think the state would have a handle on these things after 2000.
"Then again, it’s hard to imagine someone waiting in line for eight and a half hours to vote early for any candidate." n nThat's the point. That's why Florida Gov. Rick Scott shortened the time for early voting when his two GOP predecessors lengthened it. Longer lines = fewer voters. Just another case of GOP voter suppression.
You mean he shortened them for EVERYBODY? Why didn't he implement the supersecret GOP plan to shorten them only for women, hispanics, blacks, gays, and Jewish liberals, leaving them untouched for straight white male Christians? How clumsy of him!
I have to think that the Obama/MSNBC effort to get essentially everyone in America to vote early has in fact backfired on them. Early voting is way way up and guess what, the polling places weren't prepared for the increase. It became a self-caused disaster for them. And realistically what EXACTLY is the point? Why is it so vitally important to vote days or weeks early and if the problems are so extreme why not simply grab an absentee ballot fill it out and drop it off? Or is THAT somehow discriminatory as well? Because I haven't heard Al Sharpton tell us it is. If you were waiting on line all day to vote early wouldn't you go home and get on line on election day? Wouldn't you at least consider a mail in ballot? Moreover how is any of this specifically discriminatory toward Democrats.
Someone who truly is severely hypoglycemic (low blood sugar – either naturally or because of too much insulin) will not only carry sugar of some sort and know to immediately take it, but wouldn't be standing in line for 3-4 hours in the sun. Hypoglycemia has some quite noticeable and rather terrifying psychological effects that perhaps can best be described as a total helplessness and complete lack of confidence in *anything.* It is so terrifying that they used to punish disorderly inmates in insane asylums with insulin injections — something so terrifying that they would stop acting crazy. n nExcepting someone who is truly anorexic and in need of hospitalization, anyone of at least average intelligence who is dealing with a low blood sugar issue and who has gotten it sorta stabilized isn't going to do *anything* that will mess it up. He may have documented issues with his blood sugar, but he's not going to intentionally mess it up. n nAlana, I'm wondering if this all is a setup. Is this a conspiracy to find grounds to challenge a presumed Romney victory?
As with all these articles, never is it mention that early voting is mere convenience and a luxury. On top of that, there are only a fraction of the total voting stations available compared to actual voting day. Complaints are simply sour grapes within our on-demand society and an attempt to instigate conflict. Imagine 10% of total stations, but 50% of total voters. n nFrom the heart of the tri-county Democrat stronghold and former DWS district. Should simply have full voting on Monday and Tuesday, erasing early and all non-in-person voting (with a few exceptions).