Lawsuits fly as Florida governor signs new elections law

MIAMI (CN) — Within hours of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signing a law requiring voters to prove U.S. citizenship on Wednesday, voting and civil rights groups filed two federal lawsuits challenging the new statute dubbed by opponents as the “show your papers” law.

The Republican-led Florida Legislature passed HB 991 last month along party lines. The law mimics the federal SAVE America Act, which continues to stall in Congress.

HB 991 requires Florida voters to prove U.S. citizenship with a birth certificate, passport or REAL ID driver’s license. All new voter registration applications and updates to existing voter registrations will be checked against the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles records. Supervisors of elections will also need to retroactively go through voter rolls to ensure voting eligibility.

The measure also prohibits the use of student identification or retirement community IDs to vote at the polls. The law is set to go into effect January 2027.

“This bill protects and expands integrity in our voter registration process by requiring the verification of U.S. citizenship when you’re doing your voter registration,” the Republican governor said during the signing ceremony. “Our constitution says only American citizens are allowed to vote in our elections, and so, we need to make sure that is the law.”

Voting rights groups immediately attacked the new law. The League of Women Voters of Florida, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Florida Rising, Common Cause, Hispanic Federation and UnidosUS filed a 60-page lawsuit in Miami federal court against Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd and three South Florida supervisors of elections. The plaintiffs contend HB 991 violates the First and 14th Amendments and seek a preliminary injunction to stop enforcement of the law.

“Florida’s new ‘show your papers’ law is a blatant attempt to add unnecessary barriers to the ballot box,” said Jonathan Topaz, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project, in a statement. “This law targets Florida’s most vulnerable voters — older Black voters who grew up in the Jim Crow South, naturalized citizens, transgender people, low-income voters, voters with disabilities — all in service of perpetuating the fact-free myth of widespread noncitizen registration and voting. We bring this lawsuit to ensure that Florida cannot block its eligible voters from exercising their fundamental right to vote because of missing or mismatched paperwork.”

The Florida State Conference of Branches and Youth Units of the NAACP and Florida Alliance for Retired Americans also filed a lawsuit in Tallahassee federal court against state and local election officials. In addition to putting an undue burden on voters, the plaintiffs argue in the 54-page complaint that HB 991 treats voters differently because those who register using a federal form without Florida’s required documents can still vote in federal elections, while those using a state form would be prevented from registering at all.

“Governor DeSantis just signed one of the worst voter suppression laws in modern American history,” said Abha Khanna, a partner with Elias Law Group, which is representing the civil rights groups. “The law’s own sponsors estimate that HB 991 would force over one million existing Florida voters, including lifelong Florida residents who have been voting in the state for decades, to present a valid passport or an original birth certificate or get kicked off the rolls within 30 days. The state’s own data shows that noncitizen voting is virtually nonexistent in Florida. If this law goes into effect, the number of eligible Florida citizens who will be disenfranchised will be far, far greater than the number of ineligible voters who will be prevented from casting a ballot. Courts across the country have rejected these kinds of laws, and this one should meet the same fate.”

During his press conference, DeSantis said he anticipated the lawsuits.

“What happens on all these is, I sign it, they sue us,” he said. “They go to a liberal judge. The liberal judge sides with them. Then we appeal, and then we win. So, that’s probably what will happen on this. I’ve just seen this song and dance long enough.”

In addition to the new voting requirements, the new law also requires those candidates running for office to disclose if they hold dual citizenship and demands federal candidates divulge if they intend to trade stocks while in office.

Florida already bans noncitizens from voting. In 2020, voters enshrined that rule in the state constitution. Although the state has found evidence of noncitizens registered or voting in Florida, the number is small compared to the more than 13 million registered voters.

A 2026 report by the Office of Election Crimes and Security, a new department formed by DeSantis four years ago, found 198 noncitizens may have registered to vote or did vote in Florida elections in 2025.

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