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

Liv Caputo, Miami Herald on Sep 2, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

MIAMI — 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.

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.

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.

_____