A lot of people in Florida apparently agree with U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, who said that no right is more precious than the right to vote.
More than 108,000 people registered to vote from Oct. 11-18, the extra week that the judge ordered because of Hurricane Matthew and following a lawsuit filed by the Democratic Party.
Details through Saturday and posted on the state Division of Elections web site show that 78,474 people have been added to the rolls for the current election and that 29,749 more people were still being verified, for a potential total of 108,223. (That's more voters than were registered in Citrus County on Sept. 30, which was 104,652).
A breakdown of the post-Matthew voters, by county and by party, will be available on Oct. 31, Secretary of State Ken Detzner's office said. Detzner's office has added staff members to process forms and employees were on mandatory overtime to get the work done. You can track the numbers here.
Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican who ordered more than 1.5 million Florida residents to flee their homes more than two weeks ago, initially opposed extending the voter registration period. Scott later said he didn't have the power to do so after Walker said state law was unclear on that point. In Walker's courtroom, lawyers for Scott and Detzner took no position on the extension.
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