{"id":2727,"date":"2026-02-25T14:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T19:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/florida\/?post_type=article&p=2727"},"modified":"2026-02-26T12:11:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T17:11:33","slug":"2727","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/florida\/articles\/2727\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed Laws Will Stop Florida Citizens From Voting"},"template":"","class_list":["post-2727","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","article_type-opinion"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"This is about making voting harder for Floridians so that voters cannot hold our elected officials accountable.","featured_image":"","article_type":215,"authors":"","related_issues":[402],"related_work":[111,255,169,398],"location":null},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":true,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":true,"person":null,"name":"Letitia Harmon","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"A common misconception about any state-level reform is a mindset\u00a0of, \u201cit\u2019ll\u00a0never happen to me. That new law is about other people.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nAs someone who experienced firsthand the state denying my right to vote, I am here to share my story and to say clearly \u2014 if House Bill 991 or Senate Bill 1334\u00a0pass\u00a0into law, you could be denied your right to vote just like I was.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nAbout 10 years ago, I moved back home to Kansas to take care of an ailing grandparent. As part of my care taking role, state officials allowed me to\u00a0assist\u00a0my grandfather with in-person voting in the primaries.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nSince I had recently moved back to Kansas, I decided to register to vote at that time. But\u00a0election\u00a0officials denied my registration. They demanded to see my birth certificate, which I\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0even think about bringing to the county clerk because I never needed to before.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nA follow-up letter confirmed \u2014 if I did not bring my original birth certificate to my local election official by the registration deadline, I would be denied the right to vote under Kansas law.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nNow, let me back up a little bit. I am an American citizen. The child of a veteran, I arrived into this world on a U.S. military base in Missouri.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nBut as any military kid will tell you, that\u00a0\u201coriginal\u201d birth certificate\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0easy to find. My parents\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0find it in time, and I was unable to cast a ballot for the first time since my 18th\u00a0birthday..Thankfully, a court overturned that Kansas law in Fish v.\u00a0Kobachand\u00a0restored my right to vote. But as I hear lawmakers consider the\u00a0same\u00a0 laws\u00a0here in Florida, I remember my experience. Our\u00a0state\u2019s\u00a0and nation\u2019s elections have been declared free and\u00a0fair\u00a0yet this makes elections neither free (you\u00a0have to\u00a0pay to obtain new documents) nor fair (this will disproportionately\u00a0impact\u00a0students, married or divorced women, people with disabilities and seniors).\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0nothing but an attempt to hold onto political power and block people from voting.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nI am a\u00a0citizen\u00a0but the government\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0allow me to vote. That same thing will happen here in Florida if HB991 or SB1334 become law.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nAnd frankly, if they do, the state may deny my right to vote again. Yes, I have a\u00a0state issued\u00a0driver\u2019s license. And yes, I\u00a0am registered\u00a0here in Florida.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nBut like many people, I have changed my name a few times in my life. I got married. I got divorced. My name changed each time. If the\u00a0database\u00a0Florida election officials choose to check has one of my\u00a0previous\u00a0names, the system will\u00a0likely flag\u00a0my file and try to deny my right to vote again.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nMy divorce decree is from a court in another state. I would have to pay hundreds of dollars to get it sent to me. Would officials\u00a0require\u00a0both my marriage license and my divorce decree? Would they require that birth certificate again?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nUnder these new proposals,\u00a0likely yes. And so once again, the state would deny my right to vote. Not a bogeyman trying to commit election fraud \u2014 a U.S. citizen, born here, eligible to\u00a0vote..<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s\u00a0why groups like Common Cause, Florida Rising, and other voting rights groups are\u00a0<\/span>working so hard to stop these bills<\/span><\/a>. These are not simple measures. They are complex and they will deny U.S. citizens the right to vote like Kansas denied me.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nThese bills will require anyone who does not have a recent Florida driver\u2019s license to re-submit documents to prove their citizenship. This will\u00a0impact\u00a0seniors, students, people with\u00a0disabilities\u00a0and those without the time or money to get documents.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nIt is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in Florida, and the consequences of doing so are already extremely harsh.\u00a0That\u2019s not what these bills are really about.\u00a0This is about making voting harder for Floridians so that voters cannot hold our elected officials accountable.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nDon\u2019t\u00a0let them get away with it.\u00a0Don\u2019t\u00a0let them take away your right to vote over a specific piece of paper, like the state took away my rights.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u00a0<\/span>\r\nLetitia Harmon is the Senior Director of Policy and Research for Florida Rising, a voting rights group. She currently lives in northern Florida.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_add_component","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_add_component":null},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_work","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_work":{"heading":"Work","manually_curate":false,"work":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_related_articles","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_related_articles":{"heading":"Updates","button_text":"See all Related Articles","manually_curate":false,"articles":null}}]},"yoast_head":"\nProposed Laws Will Stop Florida Citizens From Voting - Common Cause Florida<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is about making voting harder for Floridians so that voters cannot hold our elected officials accountable.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/florida\/articles\/2727\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Proposed Laws Will Stop Florida Citizens From Voting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is about making voting harder for Floridians so that voters cannot hold our elected officials accountable.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/florida\/articles\/2727\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause Florida\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-26T17:11:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/florida\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/common-cause-share-image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/florida\/articles\/2727\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/florida\/articles\/2727\/\",\"name\":\"Proposed Laws Will Stop Florida Citizens From Voting - 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