Florida moves to pass its own "SAVE America Act"
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A polling precinct in Hillsborough County on Nov. 8, 2022. Photo: Octavio Jones/Getty Images
A proposal to rewrite Florida's voter identification requirements aimed at verifying citizenship could make it harder for out-of-state college students and married women to register to vote.
The big picture: The legislation is the state's answer to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which Republicans are muscling through Congress at President Trump's insistence.
- Florida's version (HB 991 and SB 1334) would, among other things, require new voters and those who update their registration to show proof of citizenship, such as a passport, a REAL ID or a birth certificate.
- It would also require the State Department to verify the citizenship status of existing voters with the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, affecting those who don't yet have a REAL ID.
What they're saying: "Just as the SAVE America Act is common-sense, this election integrity bill is common-sense," state Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka (R-Fort Myers), the bill's sponsor, said during a state House vote last week.
- "Floridians want election integrity," she added. "They want to ensure that only U.S. citizens vote."
The other side: "We shouldn't be doing anything to weaken the confidence in our democracy... [or] place new barriers between eligible citizens and the ballot box," state Rep. Rita Harris (D-Orlando) said.
Between the lines: The bill is intended to deter noncitizens from voting. But by the state's own admission, such instances are rare: only 198 noncitizens have been found among the more than 13 million people on its voter rolls.
- Florida has previously made superficial changes to its election laws in response to Trump's baseless claims of voter fraud; lawmakers in 2022 renamed ballot drop boxes "secure ballot intake stations," for instance.
Yes, but: It's not all smoke and mirrors. The House bill would bar the use of student IDs as identification when voting at the polls — a move critics say would affect out-of-state students.
- Women whose current last name differs from the name listed on the birth certificate used as proof of citizenship would be required to provide documentation of a legal name change.