2023-07-05 11:45:00
MIAMI.- And judge federal blocked parts of the new electoral law endorsed by the governor of florida, Ron DeSantis, following noting that the regulations might be considered “the last attack in the state on the right to vote.”
The law, signed into law in May, introduced, among other things, a number of changes to Florida’s electoral system related to “third party” voter registration, and prohibits non-US citizens from “collecting or handling” registration of people on the electoral roll.
Governor DeSantis and other state Republican leaders who sponsored the legislation argued that the law was necessary to ensure the security of the election, and thus avoid potential errors in that process.
However, US District Chief Judge Mark Walker issued a preliminary order blocking sections of the law, aligning himself with groups such as the NAACP, the Florida League of Women Voters and the Hispanic Federation, who maintain that the changes are “unconstitutional”.
The ruling strikes aside, at least for now, the requirement that voter registration groups submit an “affirmation that each person who collects or handles voter registration applications on behalf of the voter registration organization of third party is a citizen of the United States of America.
Under the law, those groups might face a $50,000 fine for each non-citizen who collects or handles applications. However, Walker supported the plaintiffs’ arguments that this restriction would violate constitutional rights.
“Florida can, of course, regulate elections, including the voter registration process,” Walker wrote. “When the power of state government threatens to stretch beyond constitutional limits and erode individual rights, the federal judiciary becomes a firewall. The (called by DeSantis) Free State of Florida simply cannot exceed the limits of the United States Constitution.”
The law was challenged in court by voter registration groups, on the grounds that these organizations play an “important role” in registering Hispanic and black voters.
During a hearing Wednesday, Mohammad Jazil, a lawyer for the DeSantis administration, argued that people who are not US citizens, such as students from other countries or those with temporary legal immigration status, “are not connected to the community.”
In his opinion, this might result in those people not submitting voter registration applications on time.
Another section of the rule blocked by Walker would make it a third-degree felony for a voter registration organization worker to “copy a voter’s application or withhold personal information from a voter, such as a Florida driver’s license number, Florida identification card number, Social Security number, or signature.”
According to the federal judge, who was appointed by then-President Barack Obama, this part of the law is too vague. In his opinion, this section of the rule “leaves open a wide range of what might be considered ‘personal’ information.”
It is not the first time that Judge Walker has opposed legislation associated with the electoral system in Florida. In March 2022, the magistrate handed down a ruling that blocked parts of a 2021 electoral law.
However, days later the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit vacated much of its ruling.
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