Name: DeSantis signs Florida version of ‘Save’ Act
Uploaded: 2026-04-02T04:59:19.764Z
Duration: 2 min 24 s
Description: On Wednesday morning, Governor Ron DeSantis signed the ‘Save’ Act during an event in the Villages and it is already facing legal challenges. FOX 13’s Aaron Mesmer reports.

On Wednesday morning, Governor Ron DeSantis signed the ‘Save’ Act during an event in the Villages and it is already facing legal challenges. FOX 13’s Aaron Mesmer reports.

Florida

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has enacted the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which requires individuals to provide proof of citizenship, such as a real ID-compliant driver's license, U.S. birth certificate, or passport, when registering to vote or casting a ballot in person. The law, modeled after a stalled federal proposal, is intended to limit voter fraud, according to its supporters.

Opponents argue that voter fraud is rare in Florida and that the new requirements could disenfranchise voters who lack the necessary documents, particularly older Black voters. Several voting rights organizations have already filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the law, which is set to take effect in January 2027 if upheld. The measure does not address mail-in ballots and removes student and retirement community IDs as valid voter identification.

DeSantis signs Florida version of ‘Save’ Act

A controversial voter ID bill is now Florida law. This morning, Governor Ron DeSantis signed Florida's SAVE Act during an event in the Everglades. In the villages, rather. It's already facing some legal challenges, though. FOX 13's Aaron Mesmer explains why. All you have to do is watch these elections and see how Florida performs, and we've become the envy of the nation. When it comes to election integrity, Governor DeSantis says Florida is already the best in the U.S. Good job, guys. And he believes it's even better now, after he signed into law Florida's Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE Act. But I think you guys here should be comforted in the fact that Florida, yet again, is ahead of the curve. The law now requires proof of citizenship when registering to vote or casting a vote at the ballot box. Acceptable documents include a real ID-compliant driver's license, U.S. birth certificate, or U.S. passport. This is similar to the federal SAVE America Act that's a priority of President Trump, but stalled in the U.S. Senate. During a news conference with the governor in the villages, the bill's sponsors said the new requirements will further limit voter fraud. When I talk with voters about election integrity, what they tell me that they want, it's pretty straightforward. One, they want to make sure their ballot is counted. And two, they want to make sure that their ballot is not offset by a fraudulent ballot. But opponents argue there are very few cases of voter fraud. In fact, a state report in January determined, of the more than 13 million people on its voter rolls, fewer than 200 were likely non-citizens who were illegally registered. Opponents also believe the law disenfranchises voters who don't have access to the documents now required by law. We are disenfranchising a population of people, and most of them are going to be older black voters who are staunchly Democratic voters by statistics. So if that's what we want to do, then that's what y'all doing. This is a bad bill. Several voters' rights organizations immediately filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law. They say it violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments. If the law stands, it will go into effect in January 2027 and would not impact the midterm elections. Aaron Mesmer, FOX 13 News. Mail-in ballots are not addressed in the state measure. The bill does remove the use of a student or retirement community ID to vote. That's been allowed in Florida since 2006.

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