Here Are All The Lawsuits Challenging Georgia s New Voting Law gpb.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gpb.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Voting rights and civil rights groups including UnidosUS, Equal Ground Education Fund, and Faith in Florida filed a legal challenge Tuesday against Florida’s controversial new election reforms, which curtail access to mail-in balloting and other aid to voters.
Their federal lawsuit charges that the reforms, already signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis, disproportionately restrict voting access by Black and Latino voters and impede the groups’ efforts to expand voter registration and participation in elections.
The challenge was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, based in Tallahassee. It sues Secretary of State Laurel Lee, the state’s chief elections officer, and four county supervisors of elections representing all supervisors as a class.
Florida Gov Ron DeSantis signs restrictive voting bill cnn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cnn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Almost immediately after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new law changing some voting procedures, the lawsuits started flying.
The League of Women Voters and others are seeking to block SB 90, which they call a “voter suppression” bill, from taking effect. Florida’s Republican-dominated Legislature followed the lead of GOP lawmakers in other states to address concerns about potential voter fraud, even though no significant problems have been identified in the 2020 election in Florida or other states.
So what does the new law mean for voters in Polk County? Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards said the changes would have been much more dramatic if initial versions of SB 90 and other proposed bills had passed.
“All of these laws that are being created to resolve a problem. What problem is that?” asked event organizer Eliseo Santana, the president of the Pinellas County chapter of the Latin United League of American Citizens (LULAC). “Is it that too many of us are coming out to vote? Is that the problem?”
By “us,” Santana was referring to people of color.
Among the changes in the bill include new identification requirements for voters requesting vote-by-mail ballots. Florida has had a voter ID law on the books for years, but the new law now requires that those requesting vote-by-mail ballots must also submit a form of identification. That could be their driver’s license number, Florida identification card number, or the last four digits of their Social Security number.