The bill, HB 991, is Florida’s version of the SAVE America Act, imposing new voter registration requirements and banning student IDs at the polls.
MIAMI (CN) – Within hours of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signing a law requiring voters to prove US citizenship on Wednesday, voting and civil rights groups filed two federal lawsuits challenging the new statute, dubbed by opponents as the “show your cards” law.
Florida’s Republican-led 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 US citizenship with a REAL ID birth certificate, passport or driver’s license. All new voter registration applications and updates to existing voter registrations will be checked against Department of Highway and Motor Vehicle Safety records. Election supervisors will also need to retroactively go through voter rolls to ensure the right to vote.
The measure also prohibits the use of student identification or retirement community IDs to vote at the polls. The law is expected to enter into force in January 2027.
“This bill protects and expands the integrity of our voter registration process by requiring verification of US citizenship when you’re doing your voter registration,” the Republican governor said during the signing ceremony. “Our constitution says that only American citizens are allowed to vote in our elections, and so we have to make sure that’s the law.”
Voting rights groups immediately attacked the new law. The Florida League of Women Voters, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Rise Florida, Common Cause, Hispanic Federation and UnidosUS filed a 60-page suit in Miami federal court against Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd and three South Florida supervisors of elections. The plaintiffs claim that HB 991 violates the First and 14th Amendments and seek a preliminary injunction to stop the law from being implemented.
“Florida’s new ‘show your cards’ law is a blatant attempt to add unnecessary barriers to the ballot box,” Jonathan Topaz, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project, said 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 voters, 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 on behalf of their rightful voters. missing or mismatched documents.”
The Florida State Conference of NAACP Chapters and Youth Units and the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans also presented a suit in federal court in Tallahassee against state and local election officials. In addition to placing 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 paperwork can still vote in federal elections, while those using a state form will 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 represents civil rights groups. “The law’s sponsors themselves estimate that HB 991 would force over a million existing Florida voters, including lifelong Florida residents who have voted in the state for decades, to present a valid passport or an original birth certificate or get off the rolls within 30 days. The state’s own data shows that non-citizen voting is virtually non-existent for Florida citizens if this law goes into effect. power in Florida, the number of Florida citizens disenfranchised will far, far exceed the number of ineligible voters who will be prevented from voting.
During his press conference, DeSantis said he expected the lawsuits.
“What happens with all of this 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, maybe that’s what’s going to happen with 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 whether they have dual citizenship and requires federal candidates to disclose whether they intend to trade stocks while in office.
Florida already bars noncitizens from voting. In 2020, voters enshrined this 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 Crime and Election Security, a new department formed by DeSantis four years ago, found that 198 noncitizens may have registered to vote or have voted in Florida’s 2025 election.
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