JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct. 19 (UPI) -- In the face of protests led by civil rights activist Jesse Jackson and others, elections officials are adding early voting sites in Jacksonville, Fla.
The announcement also came shortly after Supervisor of Elections John Stafford resigned for health reasons, the Florida Times-Union reported Tuesday.
Stafford suffered a heart attack in March and is currently suffering from pneumonia. Although he has also been facing criticism for the way he has handled elections, his supporters said the resignation Monday was solely for health reasons.
Jacksonville, the largest city in the United States in terms of area, opened the state's 15 days of early voting Monday with only one site available.
Jackson and Rep. Corrinne Brown, D-Fla., led protests seeking to open more sites. After Stafford's resignation, Secretary of State Glenda Hood announced two to four new sites with extended voting hours.
Other large counties in Florida are providing more than a dozen sites. Broward County has 19, although many of them were initially slowed by long lines caused by a computer glitch Monday morning.
