- December 20, 2024
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Darylann Elmi - stock.adobe.com
The League of Women Voters of Florida and the NAACP filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday contending that a state voter-registration application does not properly inform voters about eligibility requirements.
The lawsuit centers on felons who, under a 2018 state constitutional amendment, can have voting rights restored after they fulfill sentences.
It contends that the voter-registration application violates a federal law known as the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.
“Due to the state’s NVRA violation and maze of voter-eligibility rules, returning citizens (felons) struggle to accurately complete the application, and voter-registration organizations struggle to assist returning citizens in answering the application,” said the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Tallahassee.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction against using the current registration application and an order directing Secretary of State Cord Byrd to revise the application. Byrd is the defendant in the case.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and the law firm O’Melveny & Myers.
