Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB-991, a sweeping elections bill Wednesday requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote, and within minutes, voting rights groups filed a federal lawsuit challenging the measure.

“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,”said DeSantis when speaking about . “Today I signed the election integrity bill, also known as the Florida SAVE Act. This legislation strengthens the security, transparency, and reliability of Florida’s election system. In Florida, we will always stand up for election integrity.”

The measure requires verification of U.S. citizenship during the voter registration process.

But critics argue the legislation is unnecessary.

Democratic State Sen. Shevrin Jones questioned the need for the bill.

“But at the expense of who? At the expense of voters? You know, last year they said that that was the election integrity bill that the nation should model. So what changes need to be made?” Jones asked.

“I think personally this is another not needed bill — we have been known, based on my colleagues who have made it clear, that Florida runs the safest integral elections in the country,” he added. “There is no need for this, because there wasn’t, still no need for it — talking to some of my Republican colleagues they even said, I don’t even know why we are doing this. Exactly, why are we?”

Jones warned the legislation could disenfranchise some voters, including students.

“Students are no longer allowed to use their student IDs to vote,” he said.

He also raised concerns about married women whose current name differs from the name on their birth certificate.

“That is actually testimony that came up when we were in committee, someone said I am going through a name change currently right now so what does this looks like after this is passed?” Jones said.

He pointed to potential issues for seniors as well.

“There has already been a case — she can’t locate her birth certificate why — she was born in the 1920’s 1930’s that is one instance but those are consistent with other individuals," he said. “It is not saving anyone but what it is doing is disenfranchising individuals to be able to participate in this democratic process that is what it is doing.”

The League of Women Voters of Florida, one of the plaintiffs in the case, argues the law would impose unnecessary barriers on eligible voters.

In a statement, the organization said courts have repeatedly found that documentary proof-of-citizenship requirements disenfranchise eligible voters while doing little to address what it describes as a “virtually nonexistent” problem of non-citizen voting.

The group also pointed to a similar law enacted in Kansas in 2016 that blocked more than 35,000 people from registering to vote before it was struck down in 2018 for violating federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

Plaintiffs argue Florida’s additional documentation requirement would make it harder for eligible voters to register, including naturalized citizens, low-income voters, married women who have changed their names, voters of color, students, people with disabilities, transgender individuals and seniors.

The ACLU of Florida also criticized the measure, saying, “HB 991 creates in-person, ‘show-your-papers’ requirements that could exclude thousands of eligible Florida voters from registering if they don’t have an unexpired U.S. passport or birth certificate — or if those documents do not reflect their name after a name change."

“This will result in thousands of eligible voters being unable to vote, and will especially harm first-time voters, elderly Floridians, students, low-income and rural communities, and women who have changed their name upon marriage,” a ACLU spokesperson added.

DeSantis acknowledged legal challenges were likely.

“And you know what happens on all these. I sign it, they sue us,” he said.

Minutes after the bill was signed, a federal lawsuit was filed.

Several voting groups argued in court filings that, in their view, “Many eligible voters do not have these documents and cannot obtain them for a variety of reasons — including because they were born without a birth certificate in the segregated South, because their documents were destroyed in a hurricane, or because they cannot afford the hundreds of dollars it costs to replace them.”

Jones also questioned the cost of defending the law.

“Why do we continue to waste taxpayer money, why do we continue to try the courts in this manner, knowing that it is unconstitutional, knowing good and well that an individual who is not a citizen of this country they can’t vote so why are we going through this dog and pony show when it is not needed?” he said.

Local 10 viewers can listen to Desantis’ remarks by clicking here.

The plaintiffs in the case are asking the court to declare the legislation unlawful and block Florida from enforcing it. The law is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2027.

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