Lawsuit from voting rights groups seeks to block Florida version of the SAVE Act

A voting rights group locked in a legal battle with Florida authorities announced Wednesday that it’s suing in federal court to block parts of a state elections bill mirrored after the federal SAVE Act.

Read more Florida Democrats call for attorney general’s impeachment over Hope Florida

The measure, a priority of Gov. Ron DeSantis, adds new citizenship documentation requirements and bans student IDs from being used to vote. DeSantis touted the legislation as Florida’s version of the SAVE Act, a Trump-endorsed bill that never made it across the congressional finish line.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a left-leaning organization under criminal investigation by the Justice Department and civil investigation by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, is arguing in a new lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida that HB 991 violates a federal voting law and the 14th Amendment.

Even though the law won’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2027, the group is asking a federal judge to prevent a swath of the bill from ever being enforced.

“Florida lawmakers are reviving a bill that couldn’t survive Congress and dressing it up as state law,” Matletha Bennette, a senior staff attorney at the law center, said in a statement, nicknaming it the “show me your papers” law.

“This purposely manufactures a crisis for people who have done nothing wrong, and it does so on the backs of naturalized citizens, Black families and working Floridians,” she said.

Read more Moms for Liberty’s influence on Florida school boards is waning

On behalf of two other advocacy groups, the Black Voters Matters Fund and the League of United Latin American Citizens, the law center is arguing that the state legislation flouts the 1993 National Voter Registration Act by requiring more proof of citizenship than federal law calls for and potentially preventing some voters from being registered.

The law center also says the 14th Amendment’s Due Process clause is violated by a provision that allows supervisors of elections to review whether a voter is ineligible within 90 days of a federal election.

This standard is too vague, they argue.

Spokespeople for the governor’s office and the Department of State did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

The bill’s proponents have maintained that the law will crack down on voter fraud and is a step toward strengthening voter integrity laws.

This is the third federal lawsuit filed over Florida’s SAVE Act. The other two, one in Miami and another in Tallahassee, were both filed by various voting rights groups on the same day DeSantis signed the bill — April 1.

Read more Uthmeier’s Democratic opponent demands preservation of Hope Florida records

This story was originally published September 2, 2026 at 2:05 PM.