Florida and Mississippi voters will soon face new citizenship verification rules after governors signed the measures into law Wednesday, triggering at least two lawsuits in the Sunshine State.
The measures, signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, are aimed at upholding election integrity as similar legislation by President Donald Trump remains stalled in Congress.
Mississippi’s measure is expected to take effect on July 1, with Florida’s law following on Jan. 1, 2027.
Under both laws, voters will be required to provide citizenship documents — such as birth certificates, passports, or naturalization certificates — if local officials challenge their eligibility after cross-referencing databases for voter registration applications. If individuals fail to provide the required proof of citizenship after being flagged, both states are required to remove them from its voter registration rolls.
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DeSantis said the Florida SAVE Act will improve the security and transparency of the state’s election system.
"Safeguarding the electoral process to improve oversight and prevent unlawful influence has been a top priority for my administration since my first days in office," he said in a social media post. "This legislation strengthens the security, transparency, and reliability of Florida’s election system."
Lawsuits challenging the bill quickly followed, with one civil rights group arguing that some voters may not have the required documents and could face difficulties obtaining them.
"Many eligible voters do not have these documents and cannot obtain them for a variety of reasons—including because they were born without a birth certificate in the segregated South, because their documents were destroyed in a hurricane, or because they cannot afford the hundreds of dollars it costs to replace them," the lawsuit filed in federal court in South Florida by the League of Women Voters of Florida stated.
Under the law, student IDs and retirement community identifications can no longer be used as polling identifications. New driver’s licenses must also reflect citizenship status starting July 2027.
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Separately, the Mississippi SHIELD Act does not mandate driver’s licenses to reflect citizenship.
However, it does require local officials registering voters to run additional citizenship checks if applicants do not provide a driver’s license number on their voter application.
Mississippi officials must also perform an annual statewide check against the federal database before a federal election to flag potential noncitizens.
"While states like California and New York flood their voter rolls with illegal aliens, Mississippi will do the opposite and defend Americans’ right to determine the outcome of elections," Reeves said in a social media post. "We will continue to do everything in our power to make it infinitely harder - with a goal to make it impossible - to cheat in our elections!"
Civil rights group Southern Poverty Law Center noted that the measure could disenfranchise Mississippi residents who lack the proper paperwork, including women whose last names changed upon marriage.
The new laws follow similar measures signed in late March by South Dakota and Utah to strengthen proof-of-citizenship requirements for voters.
Meanwhile, Trump’s own voting legislation — the Republican‑backed SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship and photo ID for federal elections — has been approved by the U.S. House but remains stalled in the Senate amid insufficient support to overcome the Democratic-led filibuster.
