PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The United States Department of Justice is joining the fight against the state of Florida's voting restrictions Bill S.B. 90.
Wednesday, the department filed a petition stating Florida Republicans intentionally targeted Black voters when Gov. Ron. DeSantis signed the bill into law in 2021.
The bill restricts the availability of absentee ballot drop boxes, increases regulations for third-party voter registration groups, and bans providing food and water to people standing in line to vote.
In the filing it states, "Florida asserted interests in preventing voter fraud and restoring voter confidence."
“We worked really hard on election integrity and election security during the 2020 election cycle,” DeSantis said Thursday during a news conference regarding voter fraud. “People actually look back at Florida as having done an efficient and transparent election.”
Ultimately, a federal judge struck down S.B. 90. It ruled the law violates section 2 of the voting rights act of 1965 and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of the constitution.
Patrick Franklin of the Urban League of Palm Beach County said it's all a trick.
“Look, it's hot down here in Florida and to say that you can't give someone a bottle of water that's standing in line to vote, that's absurd,” he said.
The DOJ along with the NAACP and League of Women Voters claim Florida Republicans intentionally targeted black voters when they came up with this law.
Franklin agrees.
“This is another hurdle we have to get over, but I applaud the DOJ for getting involved with this,” he said. “We need their legal support in order to change these oppressive laws.”
S.B. 90 is on hold as the states appeal makes its way through the courts.