Judge Rules Parts Of Florida Voting Law Unconstitutional, Citing Race

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/AP) — A federal judge has struck down several parts of a Florida election law, citing what he said were subtle tactics by the Republican-led government to suppress Black voters.

The law tightened rules on mailed ballots, drop boxes and other popular election methods. In his ruling Thursday, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said the changes made it more difficult for Black voters who, overall, have more socioeconomic disadvantages than white voters.

"For the past 20 years, the majority in the Florida Legislature has attacked the voting rights of its Black constituents," Walker wrote. Given that history, he said, any future election law changes should be subject to approval under the federal Voting Rights Act.

Florida's Republican-led legislature joined several others around the country in passing election reforms after Republican former President Donald Trump made unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Democrats have called such reforms a partisan attempt to keep some voters from the ballot box.

Much of the debate focused on vote-by-mail ballots and how they are collected and returned. Walker overturned a provision of the law limiting when people could use a drop box to submit their ballot, along with a section prohibiting anyone from engaging with people waiting to vote. Walker said the latter provision "discourages groups who give food, water, and other forms of encouragement to voters waiting in long lines from continuing to do so."

"One way, then, to measure whether this provision will have a disparate impact on Black or Latino voters is to determine whether Black and Latino voters are disproportionately likely to wait in line to vote," he said, citing testimony that showed that to indeed be the case.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who made the election bill a priority, said the state will appeal Walker's decision and win.

"In front of certain district judges, we know we will lose no matter what because they are not going to follow the law," DeSantis said at a news conference in West Palm Beach. He did not say specifically why he believes the ruling is incorrect.

Upon appeal, the case would go to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia, which is seen as being very conservative.

(© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)