Maddow: Just outrageous from FL Governor Rick Scott. 5 hr lines, no interest in fixing the problem [View all]

[flamingdem]

Florida Gov. Rick Scott not likely to extend early voting hours

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/11/02/4263448/florida-gov-rick-scott-not-likely.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

Rachel Maddow MSNBC ‏@maddow

Just outrageous from FL Governor Rick Scott. 5 hr lines already, and no interest in fixing the problem: http://is.gd/G2XB8G

** People hire proxies to stand in line



Citing long lines, a former Miami Beach state senator, the Florida Democratic Party and the League of Women Voters of Florida urged Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday to extend early voting.

But don’t expect the effort to go anywhere.

Top Republican officials in Tallahassee said Thursday an extension isn’t needed. And in Miami-Dade, the county with the longest lines, the office of Mayor Carlos Gimenez, a Republican who appoints the elections supervisor, said he has no plans to ask the governor for more time.

The likely result: more long lines for early voters and long lines for Election Day voters on Tuesday.

Other early glitches have been reported, too. Some Broward voters have seen delays in receiving their absentee ballots; the county elections supervisor’s office says every voter who has reported a missing ballot has been mailed another one.

One Broward voter encountered an unexpected wrinkle: She was purged from the voting rolls because she hadn’t voted in so long and because she didn’t respond to certified mail that warned her she would be removed because she had been so inactive, according to the elections office.

But the focus remained on in-person early voting, where voters are still facing three-hour waits at some Miami-Dade polling sites.

More than 3 million Floridians had voted early or by mail through Wednesday evening. Democrats lead in early voting, while Republicans hold the edge in absentee voting.

Between the first day of early voting Saturday and Wednesday, Broward averaged more than 28,400 voters a day. Miami-Dade averaged more than 26,300.

Among the early voters Thursday was Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade, who drew a crowd when he cast his ballot at the Stephen P. Clark Government Center in downtown Miami.

But he didn’t have to wait in the hour-long line. He had a proxy stand in his stead, as allowed under election rules. more at link

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/11/02/4263448/florida-gov-rick-scott-not-likely.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy