A federal Judge has struck down part of Florida’s controversial 2023 elections law, ruling that a provision barring noncitizens from handling voter registration applications is unconstitutional, but leaving intact most of the law’s other restrictions on third-party voter registration organizations.
In a 55-page order, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker found that the citizenship requirement in SB 7050, which GOP lawmakers pushed to passage in April 2023, violates the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause because it is “facially discriminatory with respect to alienage.”
The decision blocks Florida from enforcing the provision against Humberto Orjuela Prieto, a Columbian-born permanent resident who works as a canvasser, and his employer, Latino civil rights and advocacy nonprofit UnidosUS, one of several plaintiffs in the case.
But the injunction is narrowly tailored. Walker said, referencing the U.S. Supreme Court’s Trump v. CASA, Inc. decision in June, that he could not issue a statewide injunction, limiting relief to Orjuela Prieto and UnidosUS. The ruling still effectively blocks the state from penalizing those parties or their employees under the provision.
Walker’s ruling Friday is the latest in a series of court actions dating back to May 2023 following suit by a coalition of civil rights and voter advocacy groups, including the NAACP Florida Conference, League of Women Voters of Florida, Disability Rights Florida, Alianza Center and Florida Alliance for Retired Americans.
The organizations sued Secretary of State Cord Byrd, then-Attorney General Ashley Moody and Florida’s 67 county Supervisors of Elections, arguing SB 7050’s restrictions on third-party voter registration organizations and mail-in ballot requests were unconstitutional and would disproportionately harm minority, young and disabled voters.
SB 7050, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the same day he launched his short-lived presidential bid, imposed sweeping changes to Florida’s election laws. Among other things, it shortened the deadline for third-party voter registration organizations to return completed applications from 14 to 10 days, hiked fines for late or misdirected returns, criminalized keeping voter information for non-registration purposes, and banned noncitizens and certain felons from collecting or handling registration forms. It also authorized fines of up to $50,000 per violation.
Notably, Walker in his ruling granted relief only for the citizenship provision, and only for Orjuela Prieto and UnidosUS. The Judge dismissed all other claims for lack of standing, including challenges to the 10-day deadline, fines, ban on voter information retention and new limits on who can request mail-in ballots for someone other than themselves.
Walker said the plaintiffs failed to show they faced a concrete, imminent injury from those provisions. But on the citizenship rule, he determined that Florida offered no constitutionally sufficient justification for excluding lawful permanent residents from paid or volunteer voter registration work.
He noted that UnidosUS previously had a workforce of roughly 70% noncitizens and that Orjuela Prieto’s continued employment depended on the law remaining unenforced. The public has no interest in enforcing an unconstitutional law, Walker said, “especially one that facially discriminates based on alienage.”
In a Friday post to X, Byrd touted the decision as “another big win” for his office in reference to Walker upholding the rest of SB 7050’s regulations on third-party voter registration organizations.
“The final issue for appeal is the requirement that only citizens can collect voter registration forms,” Byrd said.
The plaintiffs can appeal Walker’s dismissal of their other claims. The state could appeal the permanent injunction Walker imposed on the citizenship provision.
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