Amid Debate In Congress, Florida's Republican Legislature Pushes Election Law Changes

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Florida, the home of the chaotic 2000 presidential recount, may enact tough new proof-of-citizenship requirements for voting currently at the center of an ongoing debate in Congress.

As part of the effort, the Sunshine State may also forever banish recounts from its election processes and switch to a new “vote validation” system that would aim to check all ballots after they are cast. The move is a top priority of Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd, who has been pushing for the idea for the past two years.

The state House and Senate are divided over whether to end recounts, but Republicans in both chambers are united on moving ahead with sweeping election legislation that could lead to eligibility questions for potentially thousands of Florida voters. Their move is being staunchly opposed by Democrats, who contend the changes could lead to voters getting pushed off the rolls.

GOP legislators shepherding the legislation have already cited the SAVE America Act — which was passed earlier this month by the Republican-majority House in D.C. — as a reason to forge ahead.

“While the important debate over the SAVE America Act happens on the national stage, we can and must continue to lead in Florida as the gold standard in election integrity,” said state Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, a Fort Myers Republican and sponsor of the House bill.

Florida’s annual legislative session ends in just a few weeks, but the election bills are on track to pass — although Republican leaders in the House and Senate must resolve some major differences in the rival bills. One major difference is whether to block the use of college IDs as an acceptable type of photo identification. (The House version would end the use of college IDs, while the Senate measure would not change it.) The two bills also differ on when certain requirements will take effect, with the House pushing off some parts until 2027.

It’s already illegal for non-citizens to vote in Florida, and in 2020, the prohibition was added to the state constitution. But the proposed bills — HB 991 and SB 1334 — would put in place new proof-of-citizenship requirements and increase the role of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to verify citizenship.

Supporters of the bill say the legislation would not impact those voters who have already had their citizenship verified when they got a Florida’s driver’s license compliant with federal Real ID standards. Federal documents such as a passport can also be accepted.

Opponents, however, have warned that the proof-of-citizenship requirements could be hard for those who have registered to vote in years past, but may be on the rolls without a driver’s license number or Social Security number.

They contend it could be difficult or expensive for people to come up with birth certificates. Another potential obstacle: People who have changed names — through marriage or divorce, for example — must have the legal paperwork that verifies the name change.

“Even if you have been voting for years, you won’t be able to vote until you submit a birth certificate or passport,” said Amy Keith with Common Cause Florida. “If you can’t afford those documents or it’s impossible to get them, too bad. You don’t get to vote. That’s what this bill does.”

During a state House hearing on the bill this week, state Rep. Ashley Gantt, a Miami Democrat, said she has been through “hell” trying to obtain a birth certificate for an elderly aunt to meet Real ID standards. She said her aunt — who was once a federal worker — was not born in a hospital in South Carolina due to racial segregation at the time.

“A lot of elderly black voters don’t have birth certificates because of racism,” Gantt said.

There hasn’t been any statewide estimates of how many of the state’s roughly 13.3 million registered voters could be affected, but preliminary surveys of election supervisors indicate that there may be thousands of voters who are registered do not have voter information tied to a drivers license.

In its 2025 report, the Florida Office of Election Crimes and Security said it had completed preliminary investigations into more than 835 people and found that 198 of those were likely non-citizens who had illegally registered or voted. The office said 170 of those individuals were referred to law enforcement.

While Florida has generally been lauded for how it has handled elections in the years following the presidential recount, Gov. Ron DeSantis has pushed to tighten voting rules. Some of those changes include putting strict limits on the collection of mail-in voting and requiring that voters must renew their vote by mail requests every two years after an election.

The legislative effort this year could bring in yet another suite of major changes before DeSantis exits office. But the House bill includes the creation of a parallel system ahead of the 2028 presidential election that it is designed to validate votes before the election is certified. It also removes the state’s current recount process that dominated headlines back in 2000. Senate Republicans so far have refused to go along with the “vote validation” effort, with one senator rebuffing it because it is likely only one company could offer the needed software.

While critics of this year’s legislation have contended this latest change could keep both senior citizens and students from voting, Republicans have countered that legislators should do everything they can to prevent non-citizens from voting.

“No non-citizen should ever cast a ballot here in the state of Florida certainly without consequence and certainly not to the point where it is diluting the vote of citizens,” said state Rep. Berny Jacques, a Seminole Republican.