Florida judge rejects Crist request to extend voting hours

A Florida circuit court judge has rejected the request by the campaign of Charlie Crist, the Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee, to extend voting hours from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Broward County, according to Florida news outlets. 

Reports say the campaign made the request after several problems at polls in the county, which includes the city of Fort Lauderdale.

One polling station was offline for more than an hour Tuesday morning, and there were some malfunctions involving electronic poll books, according to reports. 

{mosads}Crist is in a tight race with incumbent Gov. Rick Scott (R), and Crist has held the edge in some recent polls.

Crist previously served as Florida’s governor from 2007 to 2011. At the time, he was a Republican; he switched parties after losing a Senate contest, first in a GOP primary and then as an independent in the general election. 

A judge in Connecticut on Tuesday extended voting hours at two polling stations in Hartford, and the secretary of State in South Dakota ordered his state’s results to be delayed an hour because of problems similar to those reported in Florida.