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League of Women Voters of FL sues to block provisions of new election law that restrict and penalize the organization’s civic engagement efforts

League of Women Voters of Florida
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https://lwvfl.org/issues/election-reform/

New legislation passed during the 2023 session and signed into law by Governor DeSantis makes a host of changes to election law in the state. The new law — referred to as S.B. 7050 — is what’s called an omnibus bill because it contains a variety of measures which aren’t directly related.

Part of it changes the law to allow Florida’s governor to run for president without having to resign from office. Governor DeSantis announced his bid for the presidency on the same day he signed SB 7050 into law.

Other parts of S.B. 7050 add new restrictions to mail-in voting including shortening the deadline to request a from the 10th day before Election Day to the 12th day, allowing voters to personally pick up a mail-in ballot only if they are unable to go to an early voting location or their assigned Election Day polling place, banning anyone who is not an immediate family member from requesting a ballot on behalf of a voter, and blocking ballots from being counted if two or more mail-in ballots are returned in the same envelope.

S.B. 7050 also significantly restricts how third-party voter registration organizations like the League of Women Voters of Florida can operate, including banning all noncitizens — even if a person is in the country legally — from engaging in voter registration outreach, as well as people with certain felony convictions. This means third party voter registration organizations now have to conduct full background checks on every single volunteer or risk fines of $50,000 per person.

In response, the League of Women Voters of Florida is suing Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Secretary of State Cord Byrd, seeking to block provisions of the new omnibus election law that would restrict and penalize the organization’s civic engagement efforts. Click here to read the lawsuit. The NAACP of Florida and the Hispanic Federation have filed similar challenges.

To learn more about the lawsuit, and S.B. 7050 and what it contains, we spoke with Danielle Lang, Senior Director of Voting Rights at Campaign Legal Center which is representing the League of Women Voters of Florida in the lawsuit.

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