Third Lawsuit Filed against Florida Voter Suppression Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A third lawsuit was filed on Tuesday challenging Florida’s omnibus voter suppression bill, Senate Bill 90. The plaintiffs, groups Florida Rising Together, Faith in Florida, Unidosus, Equal Ground Education Fund, Hispanic Federation and Poder Latinx, argue that the various provisions of the law that limit access to the ballot box violate the First, 14th and 15th Amendments and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
S.B. 90 was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) earlier this month. The law bans anyone except poll workers from distributing food and water to voters waiting in line, cuts the period over which absentee ballot requests will be honored and shortens the time in which ballot drop boxes may be used. The day the law was signed, the League of Women Voters of Florida, Black Voters Matter Fund, and the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans sued over the law, arguing the provisions established an undue burden on the right to vote. A second lawsuit filed by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on behalf of the Florida NAACP, Disability Rights Florida and Common Cause also challenges the bill’s provisions under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.