Judge blocks parts of FL elections law

By Jim Saunders

The News Service of Florida

      A judge issued a preliminary injunction against parts of a Florida law that would set limits on voter registration.

Saying the case “arises from Florida’s latest assault on the right to vote,” a federal judge appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama blocked parts of a new elections law on Monday that was challenged by voter-registration groups.

Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, in a 58-page decision, issued a preliminary injunction against parts of the law that would prevent non-U.S. citizens from “collecting or handling” voter-registration applications and make it a felony for voter-registration group workers to keep personal information of voters.

Walker sided with groups such as the NAACP, the League of Women Voters of Florida and Hispanic Federation that argued the changes are unconstitutional.

“Florida may, of course, regulate elections, including the voter registration process,” Walker wrote. “Here, however, the challenged provisions exemplify something Florida has struggled with in recent years; namely, governing within the bounds set by the United States Constitution. When state government power threatens to spread beyond constitutional bounds and reduce individual rights to ashes, the federal judiciary stands as a firewall. The Free State of Florida is simply not free to exceed the bounds of the United States Constitution.”

The law (SB 7050), which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in May, made a series of changes in Florida’s elections system, particularly focused on “third-party” voter registration groups. DeSantis and other state Republican leaders argued, in part, that the law was needed to ensure that elections are secure.

But voter-registration groups quickly filed lawsuits challenging the law and seeking a preliminary injunction. They said the groups play an important role in signing up Hispanic and Black voters.

Walker rejected the state, backing plaintiffs’ arguments that the law would violate constitutional equal-protection rights, granting the injunction.