Does gov have authority to extend hours?

On Friday Secretary of State Kurt Browning told Congressional Democrats in this letter that: "there is no means to extend early voting hours or days under the law," which contrasts a bit with the letter he sent to Gov. Charlie Crist today asking him to extend hours.

Comments

no, but he didn't have authority to negotiate with the indian's either

you are assuming republicans can read and understand constitutions

[nitpicker]

Couldn't "extending" the hours simply mean that, instead of having the polls open while people at work, they would be open from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and then 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.? That would meet the restrictions of the law AND allow more people to vote.

[Gator(R)]

5:08

I think the law limits the time from 7:00 to 7:00.

Your recommendations make more sense from a practical standpoint, may be more difficult from a staffing standpoint.

5:01 - How many constitutions do we have? Are are you questioning their ability to understand other countries' constitutions as well?

Crist shooting McCain ad. George Bush building a house divided

After weeks of the Republican Party of Florida asking that Gov. Charlie Crist appear in a John McCain ad, he's cutting one. The Buzz beat us to the filimg location: Miami.

What we learned: scripts have flown back and forth for two days. And the Crist-commercial request is longstanding. We're told the RPOF told the McCain campaign months ago that Crist be used early and often. Yet the selection of Sarah Palin as vip, the decision to downplay Crist and Crist's own odd relationship (spend too much time for McCain and get bashed for not being governor and vice versa) with the McCain campaign made a TV commercial a longshot.

Meantime, McCain campaign director Rick Davis had Florida in his "safe column." That changed last month, just as the relationship between McCain Florida director Arlene DiBenigno and RPOF chair Jim Greer appeared to get frosty. Some Republicans say the third floor of the party's George Bush building is divided - state Republicans on one side and McCain folks on the other. And there's not much chatting going on between the two. Lots of closed-door meetings. Little trust. Sometimes state and county Republicans find out about McCain events by reading it in the papers or on the blogs.

Today's LA Times mentions that Greer/Crist shot down a plan to have the party pay for a flier linking Barack Obama to terrorist Bill Ayers. Some Republicans say it's true. Others aren't sure. Others remember a flier that featured Middle East terrorists.

Does the governor even care? He's the one who last week stated that the law is whatever the supreme court says it is.

Why ask Charlie? He is only a "lawyer"...

A high-ranking campaign adviser in the Obama campaign called Obama a ni__er!

Wow. Charlie Crist IS the original Maverick! What a brilliant political move. A great way to distance himself from the Republicans. This will go on the bio reel when he runs for president in 2012 as a moment where he stood against partisanship to do the right thing. He's daring the Republican Party and John McCain to sue him. WOW!!!!

I don't think he has the authority to do it. As a Democrat, I welcome longer voting hours, but the law is still the law. This will wind up in court.

6:07 if you believe what you wrote, please seek professional help.

5:57 was it that wacky woman?

6:07 is exactly right. This is a brilliant Crist move to protect his seat in 2010 and keep in a position to compete for the presidency in 2012. He is a maverick -- certainly more than Sarah what's her name going back to Alaska after Tuesday.

McCain should have picked Ridge. He'd be competitive right now if he had.

[Paul D. Harvill]

Thank you Governor Crist.

You've done the right thing.

What does anyone expect from a guy who flunked the bar exam twice?

6:42, if McCain had picked a pro-choice running mate like Ridge, he would be trailing even more badly than he is now.

The short answer to the blog title is no, and it doesn't matter if it's the "right thing." It's a violation of state law, which cannot be overwritten by executive order. Long lines do not constitute an "emergency" under the Elections Emergency Act, cited as authority in the executive order. But who cares about the law when political points are to be scored?

What difference does it make? The Dem's are running a 3rd world socialist sub-specie. Can they do that? One blogger said his birth record had mulatto on it as race and another called him mulattobama. So let the gov do what he does best!

3rd world socialist sub-specie?

Republican racists will stop at nothing.

There's no way Crist has the authority to do what he did--what a mistake! Instead of doing this crap he needs to get out there and campaign for McCain. If McCain doesn't win Florida it's Crist's fault.

Again Crist oversteps his bounds.

The SOEs or the Legislature need to smack him down again.

This is Crist pandering to be the next "Maverick" and we see how well that went this time.

SENATE PARTY SWITCH NOTIFICATION:

Due right before the Florida organizational session, Sen. Alex Villalobos will announce his switching to the Democratic Party. Citing the shift of political winds in Miami, he'll become a Democrat joining a mounting swing from the right to the left.

[ForLaw]

There is no way he has the authority to do this.

Looking at the definition of "Emergency" in reference to this law, it says that any occurance caused by humans or natural that could result in injury or harm to the population can be considered an emergency (among other things). I'm guessing that people waiting hours in line could be considered such. I've heard stories of diabetics waiting, people passing out and not letting the EMTs take them.

[Lifelong Republican]

6:07, you're flippin nuts!

Those who join the Party of polls, sunny times, pen distribution and optimism exclusively associated with blindless need to get the HELL out of my GOP.

[Richard]

Give Gov Christ a break. It seems every time he tries to do some thing for the good of the people of the State someone cries foul.

[George]

No, but who has legal standing to challenge him? I would think only a candidate, and then the only injury would be speculative, that his opponent got additional votes only because of the extended hours. Even then, it's a stretch. The US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania just threw out a lawsuit challenging Obama's right to run as President under the Natural Born Citizen clause of the Constitution, ruling the plaintiff, a voter, had no standing.

I assume those howling about legality are also going after W for his "signing statements." Or do we now see yet one more example of flip-flopping conservative moral relativism?

This definitely is the right thing to do, but...is Crist going to provide any additional staffing for the polls? Or did he not even think of this? Has Crist put Mr. Dilbert in charge of early voting?

What I don't understand is why don't people just grab an absentee ballot when they see that the line is too long? They are available at the early polling sites.

[TRUE BLUE]

ELECTION REFORM -ELECTION REFORM -ELECTION REFORM- ELECTION REFORM
NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW

you still have to wait in line to have an absentee issued at an early voting site. Today is the last day to request an absentee ballot to be mailed to you however.

As for additional staff, i'm sure Crist has completely failed to consider the financial implications on each County as well as the stress it puts on limited early voting staff.

The supervisor of elections in the counties that are not following the law regarding the people who can't prove who they are need to be prosecuted.