ORLANDO, Fla. — Two state governors have approved new legislation mandating enhanced citizenship verification for voters, as comparable federal measures championed by President Donald Trump remain stuck in congressional debate.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the legislation on Wednesday, prompting civil rights organizations to immediately file a federal lawsuit claiming the new requirements will create barriers for eligible voters.
Starting January 1st, the Florida measure will demand voters present birth certificates, passports, or naturalization papers to prove citizenship when election officials question their eligibility by comparing voter registration data with motor vehicle department records.
Civil rights advocates argued in their federal court filing in South Florida that “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.”
President Trump has been vigorously promoting similar federal voting legislation that would require documentary citizenship proof for federal election registration, including U.S. passports, naturalization certificates, or birth certificates combined with government-issued photo identification. The House approved the measure, but it stalled in the Senate before lawmakers’ spring break.
Florida’s new law also eliminates credit cards, student identification cards, and retirement community IDs as acceptable voting identification, while mandating that driver’s licenses display citizenship status beginning in July 2027.
Governor DeSantis defended the legislation as enhancing Florida’s electoral system security and transparency. “In Florida, we will always stand up for election integrity,” the Republican governor stated.
Mississippi’s version, also signed Wednesday, mandates local voter registration officials conduct additional citizenship verification when applicants cannot provide driver’s license numbers on their forms. The law, effective July 1st, also directs the secretary of state to perform yearly voter roll audits using U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement online databases to identify potential non-citizens who may need to verify their voting eligibility.
“This is another win for election integrity in Mississippi (and America),” Republican Governor Tate Reeves wrote on social media. “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!”
The Southern Poverty Law Center warned the Mississippi law might prevent hundreds of thousands of residents from voting who lack passports, birth certificates, or whose names don’t match their birth documents due to marriage-related name changes.
This year, four Republican-controlled states – Florida, Mississippi, South Dakota, and Utah – have passed laws strengthening citizenship documentation requirements for voters. Michigan advocates have gathered 750,000 petition signatures attempting to place a constitutional amendment regarding voter citizenship documentation on November’s ballot.
The Republican-controlled Kansas Legislature has also approved similar legislation, though it awaits Democratic Governor Laura Kelly’s decision. Kelly has until next week to sign or veto the bill and hasn’t announced her intentions publicly, despite regularly rejecting previous GOP election measures. Override supporters would require a two-thirds majority, but Republican opposition suggests the House may lack sufficient votes.
Kansas efforts to prevent non-citizen voter registration remain influenced by a significant political controversy – a 2013 requirement that first-time state voter registrants provide citizenship documentation.
That previous law prevented more than 31,000 eligible U.S. citizens from registering, representing 12% of all first-time Kansas registration attempts. Federal courts eventually ruled the law unconstitutionally burdened voting rights, and enforcement ceased in 2018.
