US judge blocks portions of new Florida elections law

A federal judge on Monday blocked Florida from enforcing part of a new elections law that bans non-citizens from handling or collecting voter registration forms, saying the state can’t restrict individual rights and gave no proof it was necessary to do so.

The ruling also blocks a ban on third-party voter registration groups retaining personal information collected when registering new voters.

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The NAACP and other groups that register voters sued the state over provisions in a larger elections bill Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed on the same day he announced he is running for president. Opponents say it makes registering voters in marginalized communities more difficult, while Republicans said they were making elections more secure.

“The State of Florida is correct to seek integrity in our electoral system,” Judge Mark Walker wrote. “Here, however, Florida’s solutions for preserving election integrity are too far removed from the problems it has put forward as justifications.”