Federal District Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Against Two Aspects of New Florida Voter Registration Law; Expect 11th Circuit Appeal

You may find the 58-page opinion of Judge Mark Walker at this link. From the introduction:

 This case arises from Florida’s latest assault on the right to vote. Plaintiffs move to preliminarily enjoin two amendments to section 97.0575, Florida Statutes. One new provision bars noncitizens from registering citizens to vote, thus discriminating based on alienage, one of the most questionable classifications in equal protection jurisprudence. The other exposes individuals working for third- party voter registration organizations to felony prosecutions for retaining voter information without telling them to whom the prohibition applies, what they can retain, and when they can retain it. 

Florida may, of course, regulate elections, including the voter registration process. Here, however, the challenged provisions exemplify something Florida has struggled with in recent years; namely, governing within the bounds set by the United States Constitution. When state government power threatens to spread beyond constitutional bounds and reduce individual rights to ashes, the federal judiciary stands as a firewall. The Free State of Florida is simply not free to exceed the bounds of the United States Constitution. 

From the Conclusion:

The State of Florida is correct to seek integrity in our electoral system. Sound election laws ensure the people are heard without distortion from negligent and bad-faith actors. Here, however, Florida’s solutions for preserving election integrity are too far removed from the problems it has put forward as justifications. It is no answer to assert the Florida Legislature’s work here was “good enough.” Tr. at 85. Such shoddy tailoring between restriction and government interest presents a dubious fit under rational basis review, and it falls woefully short of satisfying the strict scrutiny this Court must apply. And a provision as vague as the information retention ban, notwithstanding the Secretary of State’s post-hoc intent to clarify its reach, can serve no end but arbitrary punishment. The United States Constitution demands more than “good enough.” 

Ms. Herrera-Lucha, a noncitizen who, herself, lacks the right to vote, has spent years registering and encouraging citizens to exercise that solemn right. She may, at least for now, continue to do so and add more voices to the millions of others singing a more perfect Union into existence. 

Judge Walker has been very critical of Florida’s voting laws as aimed at and achieving voter suppression. But he has been reversed by the 11th Circuit in the past, so I expect Florida to make a major run at this opinion on appeal.

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