Case Summary
LWVFL and its co-plaintiffs sued multiple Florida officials, including Secretary of State Byrd, over H.B. 991. The plaintiffs argued that the law violated the U.S. Constitution by placing an undue burden on the fundamental right to vote and violating due process rights.
On March 12, 2026, the Florida Legislature passed House Bill 991 (“H.B. 991”), modeled after the SAVE Act moving through U.S. Congress. The law overhauls the voter registration system to require documentary proof of citizenship (“DPOC”) to register to vote. It is set to take effect on January 1, 2027. On April 1, 2026, Governor DeSantis signed the bill into law.
H.B. 991 imposes an unprecedented mandate on voters and election officials. Everyone registering or changing their registration must present one of a limited number of types of DPOC. In addition, election officials must conduct a retroactive citizenship verification of all currently registered voters. These checks will use unreliable state and federal data sources that do not capture naturalization data.
Like all voter suppression bills, H.B. 991 will disenfranchise certain groups disproportionately. Many Americans do not have ready access or any way to access citizenship documentation. Naturalized citizens, Black voters, students, elderly people, Puerto Ricans, those displaced by natural disasters, and anyone who has changed their legal name will be especially harmed.
On April 1, 2026, the League of Women Voters of Florida (“LWVFL”), Florida Immigrant Coalition (“FLIC”), FLIC Votes, Hispanic Federation, UnidosUS, Florida Rising, Florida Rising Together, and Common Cause (together “Plaintiffs”) filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division. The Plaintiffs sued Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd and the Supervisors of Elections for Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach Counties.
The plaintiffs asserted that the DPOC requirements imposed undue burdens on the right to vote, in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The plaintiffs also argued that the retroactive citizenship checks fail to provide basic notice to voters whose registrations will be cancelled, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections for due process.
Plaintiffs asked the court to declare H.B. 991 unconstitutional and issue a permanent injunction blocking its.
Litigation is ongoing.
LWV Timeline
Governor DeSantis signs H.B. 991 into law
H.B. 991, a voter suppression bill, becomes the law in Florida and is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027.
LWVFL files lawsuit in federal court
LWVFL and Florida Immigrant Coalition file a complaint challenging Florida’s new documentary proof of citizenship law, H.B. 991. Plaintiffs argue the law burdens the fundamental right to vote in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.