Lawsuit filed after DeSantis signs election bill changing voter registration, ID requirements

FLORIDA — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 991 into law during a press conference in the Villages on Wednesday, which makes several changes to voter registration and identification requirements.

According to the Florida House of Representatives, the bill states voting must be done by paper ballot unless a voter requests to use a voter interface device, and removes student identifications, retirement center identifications, neighborhood association identifications, and public assistance identifications from the list of acceptable photo identification for voting.

The bill summary says the voter registration processes will be revised to require a check of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles' REAL ID data tied to citizenship for new voter registration applicants and voters updating registrations.

The bill also outlines steps election officials must take if someone is flagged as "potentially ineligible based on their citizenship status," which include notifying the voter and beginning a process that could lead to voter registration removal.

The bill also requires that by July 1, 2027, a Florida driver's license or identification card issued to a United States citizen include the person’s citizenship status. The state is also required to provide a free replacement license or ID if someone becomes a U.S. citizen and updates their legal status, per the bill summary.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida released a statement on Wednesday, which said voting rights advocates filed a federal lawsuit challenging the bill, warning that the measure will "disenfranchise eligible voters and create unnecessary barriers to the freedom to vote."

"The law requires prospective voters to have 'evidence of citizenship' on file, such as a passport or birth certificate to register to vote or remain on the voter rolls. Thousands of Floridians don’t have ready access to these documents," said the statement from the ACLU.

The ACLU also said the lawsuit, filed by the League of Women Voters of Florida, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Florida Rising, Common Cause, Hispanic Federation and UnidosUS, seeks to block enforcement of the law before it goes into effect in 2027.

Read a copy of the lawsuit here.

Stand Up America, an advocacy group based in New York, also released a statement reacting to the bill after the press conference.

"Under HB 991, Florida would be required to verify voters’ citizenship status using error-prone databases," said the statement. "If those records are incomplete or incorrect, voters would be forced to provide a passport or birth certificate, documents that millions of Floridians don’t have readily available."

Read the full statement here.

The law is scheduled to go into effect on Jan.1, 2027.