When the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida struck down large portions of voting legislation SB 90, such as the limitations on ballot drop boxes and new requirements for third-party voter registration organizations, Democratic candidates running against Governor Ron DeSantis reacted. It’s clearly going to remain an election issue. The Democratic Party says the Republican bill was filed in response to record voting levels from black and brown communities in the 2020 election, while the GOP says it was about voting protections and preventing voter fraud.
“This Court finds that, in the past 20 years, Florida has repeatedly sought to make voting tougher for Black voters,” Judge Mark Walker wrote (see full ruling below). Judge Walker was appointed by President Obama and ruled Florida needs to obtain federal approval before passing new voting laws by placing the state into pre-clearance status under the Voting Rights Act for the next 10 years. The judge said the state “repeatedly, recently, and persistently acted to deny Black Floridians access to the franchise.”
State Senator Annette Taddeo, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, and Representative Charlie Crist are all seeking the Democratic Party nomination for Governor.
“A federal judge saw Ron DeSantis’ SB 90 for what it is, a patently unconstitutional attempt to suppress the right to vote for minority communities,” Senator Taddeo said. “As the Vice-Chair of the Ethics and Elections Committee, I have been fighting these unconstitutional laws from the minute they were filed. Protecting the right to vote is essential to maintaining a Democratic country. Instead of wasting untold amounts of taxpayer money defending unconstitutional laws in the courts, we should be using our resources to address the real issues plaguing Floridians like the affordable housing crisis or fixing our crumbling infrastructure.”
Previously, gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried called the Republican legislation “voter suppression, plain and simple,” and had originally called on Gov. DeSantis to veto SB 90 at the time. “Governor DeSantis and Republicans have abused our legislative process, using session as a vehicle for their political interests and to attack our constitutional rights,” Fried added about SB 90. While she knew Gov. DeSantis would not veto the legislation, the court did agree with Fried on at least parts of the legislation with the ruling.
“A win for our democracy and a loss for the DeSantis’ anti-voter agenda,” returning gubernatorial candidate Crist posted on social media after the court ruling. “We’re going to keep up the fight to protect voter’s access to the ballot box.”
Here’s Judge Walker’s 288-page ruling.
