TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (The News Service of Florida) - Lawyers for the League of Women Voters of Florida told a federal judge Monday that state elections officials were wrong to ban on-campus early voting sites in Gainesville and Tallahassee.
Their lawsuit claims the constitutional rights of students at the University of Florida and Florida State University were being violated by a 2014 interpretation of a state law, which found early-voting sites were not specifically authorized on university campuses.
A key issue in the case is a 2013 law that expanded early-voting sites from supervisor’s offices, city hall and public libraries to “any fairgrounds, civic centers, courthouses, county commission buildings, stadiums, convention centers, government-owned senior centers and government-own community centers.”
Secretary of State Ken Detzner’s 2014 interpretation determined that a university campus did not meet the definition of any of the authorized voting sites.
Supporting the League of Women Voters position is Ion Sancho, who spent 28 years as the supervisor of elections in Leon County. He says college campuses are prime locations for early voting.
“Quite frankly, if you are charged with making voting accessible, what you do want to do with early voting locations is put them in dense residential areas where people lack transportation,” said Sancho.
Lawyers for the Secretary of State argue there is no indication that college students, or anyone else, would have their voting rights abridged due to their advisory opinion.
U.S. District Judge Mark Walker gave no indication how or when he would rule, after hearing nearly three hours of arguments.
