Trump Signs Order Changing Election Rules: What That Means For FL

FLORIDA — President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a sweeping executive order overhauling U.S. elections, including requiring proof of citizenship to register and vote in federal elections. The move is almost certain to be challenged because the Constitution gives states broad authority over elections.

Trump’s order, which also requires that all ballots be received by Election Day, says the nation has “failed to enforce basic and necessary election protections.” It calls on states to work with federal agencies to share voter lists and prosecute election crimes, and threatens to pull federal funding from states where election officials don’t comply.

Currently, to register to vote in the Sunshine State, people must be a U.S. citizen, a state resident, 18 years old, and not be deemed mentally incapacitated or convicted of a felony without their civil rights having been restored, according to the Florida Supervisor of Elections Office.

Florida residents can register to vote online here, in person at their local supervisor of elections office, or by completing a state voter registration application and mailing it to their local supervisor of elections office.

When voting in person in Florida, the following identifications are accepted:

• Florida’s driver’s license
• Florida identification card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
• U.S. passport
• Debit or credit card
• Military ID
• Student ID
• Retirement center ID
• Neighborhood association ID
• Public assistance ID
• Veteran health ID card issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
• License to carry a concealed weapon or firearm
• Employee ID card issued by any branch, department, agency, or entity of the federal government, the state, a county, or a municipality

Swift constitutional challenges are expected. Article I of the nation’s founding charter gives states, not the federal government, authority over the “times, places and manner” of how elections are run.

A new state law in New Hampshire requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register and vote recently prevented at least two people from having their say in town and school elections. Their experiences, recounted by town clerks, could prove instructive for the rest of the country as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act advances in Congress and more than a dozen states consider similar legislation.

“Everything that conservatives tried to downplay, New Hampshire told us exactly what would happen on a national scale under the SAVE Act,” Greta Bedekovics, a former policy adviser for Senate Democrats who is now with the Center for American Progress, told The Associated Press earlier this month.

Voting groups worry that women who have married and changed their names will encounter difficulty registering to vote because their birth certificates have their maiden names. In Derry, New Hampshire, Brooke Yonge, a 45-year-old hair stylist, was turned away from a school election because she didn’t have proof of citizenship and then again because the name on her birth certificate didn’t match her married name on her driver’s license. Yonge eventually had to show her marriage license.

The nearly two dozen states considering proof of citizenship voting laws are: Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Nineteen bills related to voter access and administration are pending or were introduced in Florida ahead of or during the current legislative session, according to Voting Rights Lab.

One, if passed, House Bill 831 would restrict voter access by creating new requirements for verification of citizenship during voter registration, according to the organization. It would also increase voter ID requirements for some first-time voters and requirements related to voter registration at the DMV.

While some proposed Florida laws could improve voter access, it’s unclear the effect that others would have for those registering to vote or voting in the state, Voting Rights Lab said.

Trump has often claimed elections are being rigged, even before the results are known, and has waged battles against certain voting methods since he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump has focused particularly on mail voting, arguing without evidence that it’s insecure and invites fraud even as he has shifted his position on the issue given its popularity with voters, including Republicans.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.