On This MLK Day, Some Mobilize To Protect Voting Rights

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - As many commemorate this Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, some are also mobilizing to fight against a series of laws that are believed to be shutting some voices out.

"It's Orwellian doublespeak to invoke the concept of voting rights to mean ballot harvesting or prohibiting voter ID or having taxpayers fund elections," Gov. Ron DeSantis said.

Last year, DeSantis signed Senate Bill 90 into law, it forced local elections supervisors to shift and scale back drop boxes, required voters to register more often for mail in ballots, and made it illegal for a trusted care giver or friend to drop off a ballot, something DeSantis linked with the harvesting of ballots.

"The lawsuit that we filed in Florida, what we're really trying to do is make sure that Floridian have access to equitable forms of balloting options, have an ease of voting and that we can fight back with these anti voting laws," Common Cause Georgia Executive Director Aunna Dennis said.

Shortly after SB 90 became law, civil rights legal challenges were filed by groups such as Common Cause, The League of Women Voters, NAACP, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Disability Rights Florida.

"Still they're using Martin Luther King Day to quote Martin Luther King and post pictures of Martin Luther King, you have to pick a side, either you support what MLK stood for or you don't support MLK stood for, I can tell you this he wouldn't support your support of SB 90," Democratic State Sen. Shevrin Jones, 35th District, said.

And yet more voting laws are still in store.

"I've proposed an election integrity unit whose sole focus will be the enforcement of Florida's election laws," Gov. DeSantis recently said.

"They're going to continue to suppress the vote, they're going to continue to say that we're wrong but we have to remain vigilant in this area and if we're really going to be the soul of our ancestors and we're really going to be the soul of individuals like MLK we can't get tired right now," Jones added.

The lawsuit challenge is expected to be heard January 31 in federal court.