TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A federal judge is rejecting a lawsuit that challenged Florida's vote-by-mail deadlines.
A veterans voting rights group and Democrats challenged the Florida law that said ballots mailed inside the United States could not be counted unless they were received by 7 p.m. Election Day. The groups said that was unconstitutional because overseas voters can have their ballots counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day and are received within 10 days after the election.
U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, however, ruled late Friday that these rules were in place for more than a decade and to change them now would "undermine the electoral process."
Walker also said the state had a right to create some sort of deadline and called the restriction "reasonable."
