The Florida NAACP has gone to federal court to stop a new state rule that will bar voters from showing a college or university ID at the polls starting next year.
The Florida State Conference of Branches and Youth Units of the NAACP filed the complaint Friday, Oct. 16, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami. It names Secretary of State Cord Byrd and the supervisors of elections in all 67 counties as defendants, including Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Amy Pennock, whose office runs voting for Winter Springs residents.
What the law does
The rule is part of HB 991, the elections package Gov. Ron DeSantis signed on April 1. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2027, so it does not change what voters can show for the Nov. 3 general election.
Under the new law, a voter casting a regular ballot in person must show a Florida driver's license or state ID card, a U.S. passport book or card, a military or Merchant Marine ID card, a veteran health card from the VA, or a concealed weapons license.
Any other photo card from a federal, state, county or city government also counts, with one written exception: "identification cards issued by an educational institution." Voters without an accepted ID can still cast a provisional ballot, which the canvassing board counts if the signature matches the voter's registration record.
According to the complaint, student IDs had been on Florida's list of accepted voter identification since the Legislature first wrote that list into law in 2003.
The NAACP's claims
The suit argues the ban singles out young voters, who are the people most likely to carry a student ID and less likely to hold a license or passport.
It raises three claims: that the rule discriminates against voters based on age in violation of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, that it denies equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment, and that it places an unjustified burden on voting under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
The complaint says the legislative record contains no example of anyone using a student ID to vote illegally. It also says lawmakers voted down a Senate amendment that would have barred only IDs from private schools, and a House amendment from state Rep. Anna V. Eskamani that would have kept IDs from public colleges and universities.
