democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton's campaign manager robby mook, center, visits workers at a campaign office. | ethan miller/getty images by matt dixon 10/13/16 05:11 pm edt tallahassee <u+2014> hillary clinton campaign manager robby mook on thursday lauded a federal judge's decision this week to extend florida<u+2019>s voter registration deadline, but said the campaign had already met its mark in registering voters in the important swing state. <u+201c>we had already reached our internal [registration] goals at the campaign,<u+201d> mook told reporters on a conference call. story continued below the original registration deadline was tuesday, but a federal judge extended it to oct. 18 after democrats filed a lawsuit citing hurricane matthew. on the call with reporters, mook also highlighted gains that democrats are making in florida with vote by mail as a sign of early success three weeks ahead of election day. <u+201c>probably the state where we have seen this the most is in florida,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>we are well on the path to set vote by mail records.<u+201d> the overall vote by mail numbers <u+2014> republicans, democrat, and no party affiliation <u+2014> has spiked as political parties work to encourage their voters to use that method for casting ballots. so far, 2.8 million have been requested in florida, up more than 30 percent from 2012, the last presidential election cycle. there still remains questions over whether or not the spike in vote by mail ballots is due to new voters or voters who routinely vote each election but are simply shifting their method of voting. an analysis by associated industries of florida found that roughly one-third of those who requested ballots this year were not new voters but had voted by different means in 2012. voters in florida can vote by mail, early vote in person or vote on election day. <u+201c>both major parties are essentially cannibalizing early and election day voters in order to increase their [vote-by-mail] request totals,<u+201d> wrote ryan tyson, the group<u+2019>s vice president of political operations, in a memo to his members earlier this month. mook said the clinton campaign is encouraged by the makeup of those requesting ballots. <u+201c>nearly 200,000 ballots have been cast by mail,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>african-americans and hispanic voters have made up one of every three new ballots requested, so really strong numbers in florida.<u+201d> in public polling, clinton has dominated donald trump with minority voters, a key bloc of voters her campaign is depending on to win the state. minority and poor voters, which generally lean democratic, are sometimes the least politically engaged, which means they don<u+2019>t always register early in the election cycle. for that reason, the extension of the voter registration deadline is an important win for democrats, who sued for the extension in federal court after hurricane matthew ravaged much of florida<u+2019>s east coast. <u+201c>minorities in storm-affected areas are disproportionately likely to register to vote in the days immediately preceding the registration deadline,<u+201d> read a brief filed in the case by the league of women voters. <u+201c>the effective elimination of the final days preceding the registration deadline will have a disparate impact on minority voters.<u+201d> marc caputo's must-read briefing on what's hot, crazy or shady about politics in the sunshine state.
clinton campaign manager applauds fla. voter registration extension, boasts of high vote by mail numbers
matt dixon