Sections of Florida Election Law unconstitutional, US federal judge rules

A US Federal Judge has struck down a section of a Florida election law, citing that some of its provisions intended to "target Black voters" and were unconstitutional. The sweeping election law, called SB 90, was passed by the Republican-led Florida state in 2021. Federal Judge Mark Walker stated that the Republican-backed legislation violated the Voting Rights Act and the 14th and 15th Amendments of the US Constitution.

The contentious provisions of the election law were related to activity around polling booths, voter-registration groups and drop boxes. Invalidating the controversial provisions, Judge Walker said that the law violated Floridians' rights. Besides, he also invoked Section 3 of the Voting Rights Act against the state of Florida. It requires Florida to secure prior approval from the court before enacting new laws related to drop boxes, voter-registration organisations, and assistance to voters waiting in line to vote. The judge said the move was necessary to prevent Florida from enacting such laws each legislative session.

The ruling has come in response to the four lawsuits alleging that the law was enacted only to improve the electoral prospects of the Republicans. The groups that filed the lawsuits included the League of Women Voters of Florida and Black and Hispanic advocacy organisations. They say the law targets minority voters and will unnecessarily burden disabled people.


However, Judge Walker upheld some of the provisions of the law. He ruled that the Florida law's provision increasing ID requirements to request a mail ballot was in accordance with federal law.

Meanwhile, the Republicans have criticised the court's ruling. They stated that the election laws aimed to improve the security of Florida's election system. Florida state Rep. Blaise Ingloglia called it a biased ruling by a "liberal, activist partisan judge." He also stated that the ruling might be appealed.