Years ago, the deadline to register to vote in Florida was set at 29 days before the election.
The reason was simple. Four weeks gave elections offices enough time to put together the most comprehensive list of voters available – a giant, printed book.
Today, we live in an age of instantaneous communication, massive databases and several ways to verify identity. And the voter registration deadline in Florida is still 29 days before the election.
“Many laws don’t get changed as technology changes,” said Orange elections supervisor Bill Cowles.
The early registration deadline is just one example of how the state’s elections laws “are as arbitrary as they come,” said Florida ACLU executive director Micah Kubic.