Floridians locked out of government services by Jim Crow-era segregation generations ago are among the thousands of voters who advocates say could be disenfranchised under a new elections bill passed by Florida’s Republican-dominated state Legislature.

The bill, known as HB 991, would require voters to produce documentary proof-of-citizenship in order to register to vote and update their registration, a change that critics say could wrongfully prevent thousands of eligible Floridians from voting over paperwork technicalities. Both chambers have approved the legislation and it now awaits the governor’s signature. 

Experts have found election fraud is vanishingly rare, and experiments in other states with proof-of-citizenship laws have shown they tend to ensnare voters like veterans born on since-closed military bases and married women who have changed their last names into prolonged paperwork disputes. In Florida, there are additional concerns that an older generation of Black voters – born at home because they were barred from segregated hospitals – could also be blocked from voting. It’s already illegal for non-U.S. citizens to vote under Florida law. They can face fines, prison time and deportation if convicted. 

Still, Florida lawmakers pushed the legislation through the statehouse as President Donald Trump has pressured Congress – so far unsuccessfully – to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility or SAVE America Act to impose strict new proof-of-citizenship requirements in elections.

Notably, most of Florida’s provisions would go into effect Jan. 1, 2027 – after this year’s critical midterm elections. 

The bill’s sponsor, Republican state Sen. Erin Grall, had initially pushed for a July 1 effective date but acknowledged delaying implementation would allow election officials to deal with any problems that may result. 

“They will not affect the administration of elections in this upcoming midterm,” Grall said of the changes. “It allows us to identify anything that may be – may need to be addressed during the next legislative session.”

According to Grall, most Florida voters wouldn’t need to prove anything under the new bill, because they already possess a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license, which requires proof of citizenship to obtain. That citizenship status is logged in Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles records, which state and local election officials would rely on to confirm voters’ eligibility.

According to DHSMV, more than 99% of Floridians are REAL ID-compliant. But an estimated 872,000 Floridians still don’t have a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license, according to Grall, meaning they would have to provide documentary proof-of-citizenship in order for their vote to be counted – a process that Grall argues will be easily addressed as drivers’ licenses come up for renewal. 

Still, voting rights advocates fear thousands of eligible voters could be disenfranchised by the measure, pointing to a recent study by the Brennan Center for Justice that found 9% of U.S. citizens of voting age don’t have proof of citizenship readily available.

“This bill is going to disenfranchise a whole population of voters,” said Democratic state Rep. Ashley Gantt. “Point blank, period.”

The long reach of Jim Crow

Among those who could face barriers to vote are Black Americans who were forced to be born at home decades ago because their families were barred from entering segregated hospitals. Delivered by midwives, an untold number of them were never issued birth certificates, like Rep. Gantt’s aunt, who was delivered by a midwife in South Carolina in the 1950s.

Gantt said the bureaucratic hurdle has been preventing her aunt, now a Florida resident, from updating her driver’s license – and could now threaten her right to vote, more than 60 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act. 

“I have gone through hell over the last year with the state of Florida,” Gantt said. “This is real impacts of U.S. citizens and a lot of elder Black voters who don’t have birth certificates because of racism.”

The measure could also pose particular challenges for married women and others who change their names later in life, as they would be required to produce a string of records documenting why their legal name differs from the name on their birth certificate.

“This is a sexist bill,” said Amy Keith, executive director of democracy watchdog group Common Cause Florida. “This is definitely asking for more documentation from women.”

“We’re a state full of hurricanes. People lose their documents and it does cost time, money and effort to get new documents,” Keith added.

Critics have argued the legislation would disproportionately impact Black, Hispanic, low income and elderly voters, who may face greater barriers when navigating government bureaucracy – or lack the funds to pay for new documents. 

“If you are poor, how is this not a poll tax?” Democratic state Sen. LaVon Bracy Davis asked Grall.

“This is about the integrity of our elections,” Grall replied, “and proving that you are a United States citizen in order to vote in them.”

No more student ids at the polls

For two decades, Florida’s college and university students have been able to flash their school-issued ids at the polls to prove their identity – streamlining the voting process for a demographic – young people – that is less likely to have a driver’s license and far less likely than older generations to cast a ballot.

But a key provision of Florida’s elections bill would change that by significantly limiting the forms of identification that voters can provide at the polls. Under current law, Floridians can use a driver’s license, passport, military or student ID, as well as a debit or credit card, retirement center ID or public assistance ID, among others. 

Under the changes, voters at the polls would only be able to use a driver’s license or DHSMV-issued ID, a passport or passport card, U.S. military or Veterans Affairs IDs, a firearm license, or other government id – except those issued by educational institutions. 

Democratic state Sen. Tina Polsky argued the provision is squarely aimed at making it more difficult for students to vote – adding an additional barrier to access for a demographic that historically leans progressive. 

“This is a disenfranchisement. And we know it’s going to affect certain communities over others. And isn’t that the point of the bill?” Polsky asked. “If you really wanted people to vote, you would make it easier, not harder.”

How other states’ experiments went

When other states have experimented with proof-of-citizenship laws, legal challenges have followed. 

More than 31,000 U.S. citizens were blocked from voting in Kansas, after that state passed its law in 2011. Those caught up by the provision included first-time voters, young people and veterans, and a person who was born on a military base that no longer exists, complicating their ability to get a birth certificate. 

Ultimately, federal courts declared the law unconstitutional and it hasn’t been enforced since 2018. Even GOP leaders in the heavily Republican state have acknowledged the provision failed, according to the Associated Press. Kansas Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab, the state’s top elections official, championed the idea as a lawmaker and now says states and the federal government shouldn’t replicate it.

Florida Republican House Speaker Daniel Perez dismissed questions about Kansas’ cautionary tale of pursuing an extremely rare election concern at the cost of undermining tens of thousands of eligible voters’ constitutional rights.

“I have no idea what happened to Kansas,” Perez said, “but that’s not a concern that we have.”

Kate Payne is The Florida Trib’s state government reporter. She can be reached at kate.payne@floridatrib.org.