Hillary Clinton’s campaign is calling on Florida officials to extend the state’s Tuesday voter registration deadline because of Hurricane Matthew’s potential disruption of late sign-ups.
Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook told reporters Thursday, “the one thing that we are hoping and expecting is that officials in Florida will adapt deadlines to account for the storm.”
“The voter registration deadline in Florida is October 11, and our hope would be that a little bit more time will be given for people who were expecting to be able to get registered before the election,” he said. “We certainly expect that the governor and local officials will make that possible.”
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, the Florida secretary of state’s office and Donald Trump’s campaign didn’t immediately return CNN messages seeking comment about whether they agree with the Clinton campaign’s calls — and how such an extension of the deadline would work.
Mook said the Clinton campaign’s first priority is safety, and urged Floridians to heed local officials’ warnings that the storm is deadly.
The hurricane has frozen the presidential campaign in the key battleground state, interrupting the campaigns’ voter mobilization efforts just 33 days from the November 8 election.
“We are focused in particular on our staff and volunteers and making sure that they are safe,” Mook said, “so that’s our priority and we’ll get back to campaigning when it’s appropriate.”