Courts have delivered mixed rulings on whether the hurricanes necessitate extending the deadlines.
Topline
Voters in states affected by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton have gone to court in recent days to try and extend voter registration deadlines in light of the natural disasters—which has been met with mixed success—as the hurricanes have become a voting access issue in some of the most tightly contested states in next month’s presidential election.Key Facts
Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida Wednesday night as states across the South are still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which brought widespread impacts to states including North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee.
Georgia: Civil rights groups sued the swing state on Monday in a bid to reopen voter registration, which ended on Monday, and the court will hold a hearing Thursday on the issue after a judge said Wednesday the groups needed to show more evidence that the hurricane blocked people from registering.
Florida: A federal judge on Wednesday shot down an effort to reopen voter registration in the state, after the deadline passed Monday amid preparations for Hurricane Milton, as voting rights groups went to court when Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis refused to extend the deadline.
South Carolina: A judge extended the state’s voter registration deadline by 10 days due to Hurricane Helene, to Oct. 14, after the South Carolina Democratic Party sued to keep registration open.
North Carolina: The key swing state imposed emergency voting measures in response to Helene, but did not need to change its voter registration deadline since it has same-day registration during early voting through Nov.
