DeSantis signs Florida version of SAVE Act into law

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Wednesday signed a statewide version of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act into law that requires residents in the Sunshine State to show proof of citizenship before voting in elections. 

DeSantis said he’s “not anticipating” that the federal version of the legislation, which President Trump has been pushing for, will be passed and argued the new requirement will protect the integrity of state elections.

“Our Constitution in the state of Florida says only American citizens are allowed to vote in our elections, so we need to make sure that is the law,” the Florida governor said during a press conference.

Voter advocates say the new requirement will harm citizens who cannot readily produce documents that prove their citizenship. 

Retirement community and student IDs will not be accepted as a valid form of identification. Voters will need to present a birth certificate, social security card, passport or alternate evidence of U.S. citizenship. 

The law has already been legally challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Florida and other advocacy groups.

The groups argue that the system being used to confirm citizenship status does not capture naturalization data. 

“This means that U.S. citizens could be erroneously reflected as noncitizens in these databases, as they often are in DHS’s [Department of Homeland Security] SAVE system, and would therefore be flagged for potential disenfranchisement,” the lawsuit says. 

It also mentions that elderly voters are “disproportionately likely” to get flagged for removal because SAVE incorporates SSA data that lacks citizenship data about many U.S.-born citizens who were born before the 1970s.

Wendy Sartory Link, the supervisor of elections for Palm Beach County, Fla., said the new law could also pose challenges for election officials.

“If somebody brings a birth certificate and it’s an Idaho birth certificate, I don’t know what that looks like. Am I supposed to know whether or not that’s a fraudulent birth certificate, or do I just accept it because it says Idaho birth certificate?” Link said.

The law — signed by DeSantis amid his last year as governor — isn’t set to take effect until after midterm elections.

However, legal challenges could pause or prolong it from being implemented. 

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