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Law360 (March 17, 2020, 11:34 PM EDT) -- Florida voters asked a federal court to force the state government to extend its vote-by-mail period for Tuesday's Democratic primary to accommodate those who were impacted by or face a health risk because of the global coronavirus pandemic.
The voters argued Monday that for the elderly and immunocompromised to vote, they will have to leave the safety of their homes and head to public polling places, potentially exposing them to the virus, which would put them at significant risk of bodily injury or death. They also note that many college students have been forced to leave the counties in which they are registered to vote after their dorms were closed as a result of the virus.
Additionally, poll workers are dropping out as a result of the virus and the state has moved or closed 112 polling locations in 22 counties, the voters said.
The virus threatens to "cause large-scale voter disenfranchisement falling hardest on communities of color and other historically vulnerable populations," the voters said.
The voters asked the courts in their complaint to force the state to extend the deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot to March 24, to allow the ballots to be emailed out to those requesting them, and accept ballots that are postmarked March 24 and received on March 27.
Also on Monday, the voters filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to force the state to "ensure that all eligible Florida electors whether they be mandatorily quarantined, self-quarantined, self-distancing, displaced by the pandemic or otherwise prevented from casting a regular ballot on election day by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, and who desire to vote in the [presidential] preference primary election in Florida are able to cast a ballot that counts."
A federal judge denied the voters' bid for a temporary restraining order Tuesday, as the primary was underway, noting that at such a late hour, it would be adverse to public interest.
"At least until the polls close, and under all the circumstances, it will be in the public interest to allow the governor, secretary of state, and supervisors of elections to perform their respective roles," U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle said Tuesday.
The complaint made a number of demands for actions specifically to be taken on election day, Tuesday, including ordering the state to train and instruct poll workers to sanitize all appropriate surfaces within the polling place multiple times regularly throughout the day.
The World Health Organization — which last week declared COVID-19 a global pandemic — has documented more than 184,000 cases of infection worldwide, with more than 7,500 deaths since it emerged in Wuhan, China, late last year. As of the complaints filing on Monday, the voters noted that Florida had reported 149 confirmed cases and four deaths.
Representatives for the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
The voters are represented by Kira Romero-Craft of LatinoJustice PRLDEF.
The secretary of the state is represented by George Meros of Holland & Knight LLP.
The case is Williams et al. v. Desantis et al., case number 1:20-cv-00067, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
--Editing by Jay Jackson Jr.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
