What will happen in court is anyone’s guess, but there is no doubt Gov. Ron DeSantis will sign House Bill 991 into law.
What HB 991 Requires of Florida Voters
HB 991 requires voters to prove their citizenship with a government-issued ID, beginning on Jan. 1, 2027. DeSantis already announced he plans to sign the bill into law.
- SAVE Connection: The legislation is the state version of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act. The federal bill already passed the House and is under consideration by the Senate. The SAVE America Act requires voters to prove their citizenship when they register to vote and present a photo ID at the ballot box.
Democrats promise to file a lawsuit if DeSantis keeps his word. According to the News Service of Florida, Democratic elections lawyer Marc Elias said, “As soon as you sign this bill, Florida will be sued.”
Opposition: Democratic lawmakers voiced their disapproval on the Senate floor during the discussion about the bill. Ocoee Democratic Sen. LaVon Bracy Davis questioned how the late Charlie Kirk would have felt about removing student ID cards as acceptable polling place IDs.
- “When did students become the voting villain? When did that happen?” Davis said. “And this Chamber loves Charlie Kirk, who built an entire movement around engaging students in civic life and encouraging them to participate in democracy.”
Younger voters traditionally favor Democrats, and Democratic lawmakers argue that the bill will negatively impact younger voter turnout. Senior citizens will potentially be negatively impacted, too. The bill removes retirement home IDs as acceptable polling place IDs.
Doubting Negative Impact: Pensacola Republican lawmaker Alex Andrade scoffs at the notion that the legislation will negatively impact turnout among young voters and senior citizens. Acceptable identification includes a Florida driver’s license, state ID, U.S. passport, military ID, concealed weapon or firearm license, Veteran Health ID issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and an employee identification card issued by a municipal, county, state, or federal government agency.
- “It helps guarantee U.S. citizens are the only ones to vote,” Andrade said. “I think everybody is capable of getting a photo ID in the state of Florida. Constantly grasping onto the subtle prejudice of lower expectations for people is just something I don’t subscribe to.”
According to a report from the Department of State, the Office of Election Crimes and Security found 198 non-U.S. citizens registered to vote out of 13.3 million Florida voters.
Local Election Officials Weigh In
Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Robert Bender said over 200,000 registered Escambia voters were run through the SAVE database, and 44 came back as non-U.S. citizens. Bender said some were office errors, and close to 50% had never voted. Bender said 13 ultimately voted, with six registered as Republicans, five as Democrats, and two with no party affiliation.
- “I will say some of them are difficult cases,” Bender said. “I am probably going to have to hire an immigration attorney or a specialist to work through those. Some of these are people who have had a passport before or who have been indicated as a citizen, and then their status changes, or they aren’t clear that a permanent resident doesn’t mean citizen.”
Bender and Santa Rosa County Supervisor of Elections Tappie Villane said few voters have used student IDs and even fewer have used retirement home IDs at polling places in their respective counties.
- “We will occasionally see a student ID, but the bulk of our folks show a driver’s ID, Florida ID, or military ID,” Villane said.
Bender estimated 95% of voter registrants in Escambia County come through the Department of Motor Vehicles.
New Gatekeeper: HB 991 puts the onus on the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to be the gatekeeper. If DHSMV records indicate an applicant is not a U.S. citizen or has not provided acceptable evidence, the online voter registration system will flag the person and notify the supervisor. Supervisors would then be tasked with verifying the citizenship status by using state and federal records. The supervisors would document the evidence used to confirm eligibility.
The legislation clearly defines for supervisors which documents would qualify as proof of U.S. citizenship. Acceptable records would include certified birth certificates, valid U.S. passports, naturalization certificates, and Consular Report of Birth Abroad.
Neither Bender nor Villane expects a dramatic increase in workload from the legislation. Escambia has 14 employees in its supervisor of elections office. Santa Rosa has eight.
- One notable difference between the SAVE America Act and HB 991 is that the federal bill restricts mail-in ballots. The Florida bill has no such restrictions. In the 2024 general election, about 3 million Floridians voted by mail compared to more than 8 million at the ballot box, according to the Division of Elections.
DeSantis will soon sign the Florida bill into law, and the Democrats will inevitably sue. No matter what happens from here on out, Andrade takes comfort in passing legislation that, in his mind, improves the integrity of the election process.
“With election integrity, I’ve always described it like the sport of golf,” Andrade said. “We’ve worked on improving our election system in the legislature for the past 8 years. No voter system is perfect, but every time we work on it, we try to make it more perfect. Do I think there’s still an opportunity right now for people who want to break the rules? Yes, I think there’s still an opportunity for people to break the rules. We have to make it harder for people to break them.”
