Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed into law the state’s version of the SAVE America Act which is aimed at ensuring noncitizens are not voting in elections.
Like the federal version of the law, Florida’s would also require voters to take extra measures to prove they are citizens, according to Politico.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed into law a sweeping new Florida election measure designed to mimic parts of the federal SAVE America Act that immediately drew a lawsuit from a coalition of voting and civil rights organizations.
The groups filed the federal lawsuit in Miami on Wednesday, though major provisions of the measure, including new proof of citizenship requirements and a ban on the use of student photo IDs for voting, will not take effect prior to the crucial 2026 midterms.
DeSantis, who has pushed a series of election law changes during his nearly eight years in office, including a stand-alone election crimes office, said, “This bill protects and expands integrity in our voter registration process.”
“Our constitution in the state of Florida says only American citizens are allowed to vote in our elections,” he added. “And so we need to make sure that that is the law.”
DeSantis, who expressed skepticism that the SAVE America Act would be passed by Congress, signed the measure at an event held in The Villages, a central Florida GOP stronghold. During the hourlong event, however, he did not comment on President Donald Trump’s freshly signed executive order designed to put new restrictions on mail-in voting that could potentially upend processes currently in place in the nation’s third-most-populous state.
It’s already illegal for noncitizens to vote in Florida, and in 2020 the prohibition was added to the state constitution. Florida — which has 13.3 million active registered voters — has found some examples of noncitizens voting.
Safeguarding the electoral process to improve oversight and prevent unlawful influence has been a top priority for my administration since my first days in office. Today in The Villages, I signed the election integrity bill HB 991, also known as the Florida SAVE Act. This… pic.twitter.com/tYRu1F5B4f
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) April 1, 2026
Supporters of the legislation point out that it will not affect most Floridians because “roughly 99 percent of those with driver’s licenses are already compliant with REAL ID standards that require documentation such as birth certificates.”
🚨BREAKING: Gov. Ron DeSantis just signed Florida's very own SAVE America Act into law ramping up citizenship verification for voters enforcing stricter ID rules and setting paper ballots as the default.
— Jack (@jackunheard) April 1, 2026
Nationwide rollout needed IMMEDIATELY.pic.twitter.com/jU7Pxr3iNq
However, critics refer to it as the “show your papers” law and argue that it will knock eligible people off the voter rolls, especially married women who changed their names and minority voters who were born in the South and might not have a birth certificate.
Several groups, including the League of Women Voters of Florida, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Florida Rising, Common Cause, Hispanic Federation and UnidosUS have come together to challenge the law in court. The plaintiffs argue that it violated the First and 14th Amendments and will harm their efforts to register voters.
One voting rights leader claimed the law is “based on xenophobic lies and disinformation” and said it “will harm married women, naturalized citizens, young people, and many other eligible voters who do not have ready access to documents like passports or birth certificates.”
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