TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Latest on a federal judge ordering Florida authorities to give voters a chance to make sure their vote by mail ballots are counted(all times local):

5 p.m.

Florida’s top election official is going to accept a ruling that says the state must give thousands of voters a chance to make sure their vote-by-mail ballots are counted.

Secretary of State Ken Detzner on Monday told county election supervisors that they needed to follow the order issued by U.S. District Judge Mark Walker. Walker ruled that county election offices should notify voters if their signature on a vote-by-mail ballot and their voter registration forms don’t match.

Walker called the state’s current law on those ballots “illogical” and “bizarre” because voters who forget to sign their vote-by-mail ballots are notified and given a chance to fix the problem. But voters whose signatures don’t match aren’t told about the problem until after the election is over.

Meredith Beatrice, a spokeswoman for Detzner, said the state had no plans to appeal Walker’s ruling.

The Florida Democratic Party challenged the state law governing mismatched signatures.

7:52 a.m.

A federal judge is ordering the state of Florida to give voters a chance to make sure their vote-by-mail ballots are counted.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker late Sunday ruled county elections offices should notify voters if their signature on a vote-by-mail ballot and their voter registration forms don’t match. Voters would then be given a chance to fix the problem by 5 p.m. the day before the election.

The Florida Democratic Party sued the state because currently voters who don’t sign their vote-by-mail ballot are given a chance to fix it. But voters whose signatures don’t match aren’t told about the problem until after the election is over.

Meredith Beatrice, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Ken Detzner, said state officials were reviewing the decision.