Four years after early voting lines stretched on for hours in some of Florida's most populous counties, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign is taking issue with decisions by all but 10 counties to offer less than the maximum number of early voting hours prescribed by the state.

The campaign's Florida voter protection arm argues that counties offering fewer than the 12 hours of early voting per day spread across two weeks beginning Oct. 24 are effectively restricting access to the voting booth, a charge that could foreshadow possible legal action.

Democrats have traditionally outperformed Republicans during Florida's early voting period, racking up significant margins that can prove critical to the party's chances of prevailing in close statewide contests.

"I sure hope you will get out and vote as though your future depended on it, because I think it does," Clinton told a national audience during Monday's presidential debate.

After being criticized for cutting early voting in half in 2012, Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican Legislature reversed course in 2013. It granted counties flexibility to offer up to 168 hours of early voting. Ten of the biggest counties will offer the full 12 hours per day, concluding on the Sunday before Election Day.They are:

  • Broward
  • Charlotte
  • Duval
  • Hillsborough
  • Miami-Dade
  • Orange
  • Osceola
  • Palm Beach
  • Pinellas
  • Seminole

Election officials in the 57 counties that aren't maximizing early voting contend they have good reasons for limiting hours, chief among them the number of residents who are registered to vote. Supply and demand, they say, determines how long the polls should be open.

"I think the supervisors of elections ultimately like flexibility," said Leon County Assistant Supervisor of Elections Chris Moore. "They do like being able to craft whatever kind of schedules based on their budgets or the size of their county and how many locations they have. Flexibility's a good thing."

Under state law, Gov. Rick Scott has the authority to issue an executive order extending early voting statewide or in certain counties, an option former Gov. Charlie Crist exercised in 2008 amid hours-long early voting lines.

"After a period of time of watching that, witnessing it, seeing it, you know, my heart goes out to those people," Crist said at the time.