Florida Precedes National Voter ID Legislation Push

    

         Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to sign a law that will force Florida residents to show citizenship papers to be able to vote.  

The bill, HB 991, will not take effect until Jan. 1, 2027, and will not affect the 2026 Florida midterms.  

The bill passed 27-12 and 77-28 in the Florida Senate and House of Representatives respectively.  

When signed, the new law will require proof of citizenship when registering to vote or changing one's voter registration, and in some cases at the polls.  

The Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections office says they are committed to ensuring that every eligible voter is able to vote. “If anyone has questions about registration status or what documents you may need, we are happy to assist any Floridian,” an elections office spokeswoman said.   

Voters will also have fewer options for acceptable ID when voting. Eligible options for proof of citizenship when registering or renewing to vote will be:  

Real-ID compliant driver’s licenses  

Passports  

Birth certificates.  

Naturalization or citizenship certificate  

Consular Report of Birth Abroad  

Critics of HB 991 say the law will only exist to disenfranchise voters by removing formerly valid forms of ID, and the small number of verified voter fraud cases do not make a compelling argument for sweeping changes to voting registration.  

“This bill makes it harder for citizens to vote, especially for married women who have changed their names and people who don’t drive,” Voting rights organization Fair Elections Center said on its website.  

“Florida voters would have to have their records checked in outdated, unreliable government databases.”   

DeSantis’s push for election integrity laws has been described as “Florida’s version of the SAVE Act” on X by Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd.  

Defenders of the bill remind critics of Florida’s adoption of the Real-ID system over a decade ago, in 2010, along with the nationally high ranking in Real-ID compliance. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reported a 98% compliance rate as of 2023, putting Florida leagues above states like New Jersey that reported just 17% compliance in 2025, according to reporting from Kris Van Cleave at CBS News.   

Sarasota resident Boris, who legally immigrated from Colombia 20 years ago, said “This law is absolutely targeting people like me. . . I already have to carry forms of identification on me that I’m afraid of losing because of ICE, now I might need them to vote.”