The battle between voting rights groups and state election officials over get-out-the vote restrictions is officially over after a federal judge entered a final order that has been signed off on by both sides, reports the News Service of Florida.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle issued a permanent injunction preventing the state from adopting voter registration gathering restrictions that were put in place by lawmakers in 2011 as part of a larger elections bill. Hinkle’s ruling, which was agreed to by all parties, solidifies a preliminary opinion rendered in May in which the federal judge said major provisions of the law were unworkable and therefore unconstitutional. The lawsuit was brought by a group of voting rights organizations that challenged restrictions, which included reducing the time limit for turning in voter registration from 10 days to 48 hours, which Hinkle said would unduly burden a voter’s right to cast a ballot.
