Florida Judge Blocks Harmful Voter Suppression Law in Win for Voters
Because Black voters in Florida overwhelmingly favor Democratic candidates over Republicans, the judge concluded that, in order “to advance the Legislature’s main goal of favoring Republicans over Democrats, the Legislature enacted some of SB 90’s provisions with the intent to target Black voters because of their propensity to favor Democratic candidates.” Walker concluded that the three blocked provisions — S.B. 90’s line-warming ban, drop box restrictions and warning requirement for third-party voter registration organizations (3PVROs) — “specifically target Black voters,” especially given that the Legislature “knew about SB 90’s disparate impacts” but passed the law anyways. The judge also concluded that the line-warming ban and 3PVRO warning requirement violated the First Amendment. Walker did not find that the challenged provisions were passed with the intent to discriminate against Latino voters. Walker found that the two remaining provisions — the vote-by-mail repeat request requirement and new mail-in ballot application requirements — did not violate federal law. Finally, Walker held that none of the challenged provisions discriminated against voters with disabilities in violation of federal law.
L for Ron DeSantis and GOP