APPELLATE COURT UPHOLDS FLA. VOTING LAW

Critics say measure backed will make voting more difficult

An elections law championed by Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that critics say will make it harder to vote was upheld by a federal appellate court Friday.

The ruling supporting the law, which DeSantis signed during a Fox News appearance last year, means it is likely to be in effect for the midterm elections in November,

when DeSantis will be up for re-election.

The law limits dropbox sites, penalizes ballot collection, and prohibits “line warming” practices, such as offering water or chairs, for voters waiting outside polling places.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta overturned Judge Mark Walker’s March 31 decision that took the state to task for what he called a “grotesque history of racial discrimination.” Walker, a U.S. District judge in Tallahassee, Fla., ordered Florida to bring any future changes in election laws to the federal courts before implementing them.

Walker’s 288-page ruling excoriated the state’s GOPled Legislature for perpetuating Florida’s “painful history” with Black voters.

But a three-member panel of the appellate court ruled that Walker’s decision was “flawed” and “does not seem appropriate, focused or limited.”

DeSantis was confident that the state would prevail in the appellate court. The three judges who wrote the decision had all been appointed by former President Donald Trump, and DeSantis had appointed one of them to the Florida Supreme Court before that.

Several groups sued the state over the law. Jasmine Burney-Clark, founder of Equal Ground, testified during the January trial. On Friday, she released a statement saying she was “deeply disturbed and disappointed” by the appeals court ruling.

“Let’s be clear, this law undoes the progress that voting rights groups have made and targets the very tools minority communities, like ours, use to increase voter turnout,” Burney-Clark said in the statement.