On Monday, a federal judge temporarily blocked a new election law that would have placed more restrictions on voter registration efforts, labeling it Florida's "latest assault on the right to vote" and Florida's "latest assault on the right to vote."
A package of Republican-sponsored changes to Florida's electoral process, including a ban on non-citizen immigrants assisting with voter registration, was signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis in May. Groups that kept certain voter registration information, such as for get-out-the-vote campaigns, could also be charged with felonies under the law.
US Judge Mark Walker of the Northern District of Florida ruled harshly in favor of the plaintiffs, concluding that such clauses are probably illegal.
In the 58-page decision, Walker, a nominee of former President Barack Obama, stated that Florida "may, of course, regulate elections, including the voter registration process." The challenged provisions, however, serve as an example of a problem Florida has had in recent years: governing within the parameters established by the US Constitution.
One of the organizations that filed a lawsuit against the law was the Florida NAACP chapter. They claimed that by prohibiting them from spreading a "pro-voting message," the ban on keeping any voter information violated their First Amendment right to free speech. Additionally, detractors claimed that the restriction on non-citizen participation in registration drives infringed on their constitutional right to equal protection.
Walker made a point of saying in his ruling that it was not final. Although he noted that the decision came one day before the nation recognizes its independence, he still couched it in lofty, patriotic terms. He singled out Veronica Herrera-Lucha as a plaintiff in particular. She is an immigrant from El Salvador with permanent residence in the US and serves as the Florida field director for the voter registration organization Mi Vecino.
Herrera-Lucha, a noncitizen who does not possess the right to vote herself, has devoted years to registering voters and enticing them to exercise that solemn right, Walker wrote. She might, at least for the time being, keep doing so and add more signatures to the millions of others who have already done so to create a more ideal Union.
A package of Republican-sponsored changes to Florida's electoral process, including a ban on non-citizen immigrants assisting with voter registration, was signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis in May. Groups that kept certain voter registration information, such as for get-out-the-vote campaigns, could also be charged with felonies under the law.
US Judge Mark Walker of the Northern District of Florida ruled harshly in favor of the plaintiffs, concluding that such clauses are probably illegal.
In the 58-page decision, Walker, a nominee of former President Barack Obama, stated that Florida "may, of course, regulate elections, including the voter registration process." The challenged provisions, however, serve as an example of a problem Florida has had in recent years: governing within the parameters established by the US Constitution.
One of the organizations that filed a lawsuit against the law was the Florida NAACP chapter. They claimed that by prohibiting them from spreading a "pro-voting message," the ban on keeping any voter information violated their First Amendment right to free speech. Additionally, detractors claimed that the restriction on non-citizen participation in registration drives infringed on their constitutional right to equal protection.
Walker made a point of saying in his ruling that it was not final. Although he noted that the decision came one day before the nation recognizes its independence, he still couched it in lofty, patriotic terms. He singled out Veronica Herrera-Lucha as a plaintiff in particular. She is an immigrant from El Salvador with permanent residence in the US and serves as the Florida field director for the voter registration organization Mi Vecino.
Herrera-Lucha, a noncitizen who does not possess the right to vote herself, has devoted years to registering voters and enticing them to exercise that solemn right, Walker wrote. She might, at least for the time being, keep doing so and add more signatures to the millions of others who have already done so to create a more ideal Union.
