Federal court extends voter registration deadline by 1 day in Florida

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A federal court extended the voter registration deadline for Florida residents on Monday.

The deadline to register is now at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

The Florida Democratic Party had filed a federal lawsuit late Sunday, asking a judge to extend the state's voter registration deadline at least a week due to Hurricane Matthew.

File: Florida Democratic Party Vs. Gov. Rick Scott

The lawsuit was filed against Gov. Rick Scott and the state's top election official. It comes a few days after Scott publicly turned down a request from Democrats to extend the state's Oct. 11 registration deadline.

The lawsuit points out that Scott urged Floridians to "evacuate, evacuate, evacuate" ahead of Matthew. The storm scraped the state's eastern coast and is blamed for at least four deaths in Florida. It contends Scott forced voters to choose between their safety and their right to vote.

Scott said he did not extend the deadline because people have had enough time to register.