‘Help protect the ballot box’: Florida passes voter ID bill as national SAVE Act stalls
The Florida Senate passed voter ID legislation Thursday, sending the bill to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk, as the SAVE America Act stalls in the U.S. Senate.
SB 1334, a bill to strengthen the verification process for voters’ citizenship status, passed the Sunshine State’s Senate 27-12, fulfilling the prediction of Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia earlier Thursday.
The bill had passed the Florida House, 83-21, in February.
“These new laws will further help protect the ballot box,” Jeremy Redfern, deputy chief of staff to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, told The Daily Signal. “We thank the Florida Legislature for being champions of election integrity and look forward to this legislation hitting Governor DeSantis’ desk for his signature.”
The bill will require voters to verify their citizenship with a photo identification card and require the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to note the citizenship status of drivers who receive new identification.
Prior to the vote, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced in a social media post that he will sign the bill into law.
“Although Florida has already enacted much of what the federal legislation contemplates, this will further fortify our state as the leader in election integrity,” DeSantis wrote on X.
Republican state Rep. David Borrero told The Daily Signal that he refers to SB 1334 as the “SAVE Act,” like the national legislation, “because it helps save our democratic elections.”
“Requiring proof of citizenship ensures that voters are actually eligible to vote. Our system cannot be hijacked by noncitizens,” Borrero added.
Borrero attacked the 31 Democrats who voted against the bill in the state House.
“Clearly, it’s because they want illegals to vote in our elections,” he charged. “They are very weak on illegal immigrants; they incentivize it.”
The legislation, if signed into law, will take effect in January 2027.
Both Borrero and Ingoglia said there is no excuse for Republicans in the federal government to fail to pass voter ID when Florida passed the bill so efficiently.
“I agree with this 110%,” Borrero said. “Our entire U.S. Constitution relies on a system where only citizens vote. We cannot allow foreign nationals to hijack that system. This bill is needed to combat illegal voting all across the country, especially in states like California and New Jersey.”
Borrero added that the bill is “so commonsense, that it wasn’t necessary before. But since the Left is so radicalized, we need to implement this now.”
During his press conference, Ingoglia issued similar remarks, adding that there is “zero reason” for a Republican-controlled Congress to be unable to pass “a very much-needed piece of legislation.”
The SAVE America Act, which has been championed by President Donald Trump and passed by the U.S. House of Representatives three times since 2024, continues to stall in the Senate, allegedly over bipartisan opposition.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has promised to bring the bill to a vote in the Senate next week, but a source familiar with the matter previously told The Daily Signal the vote will be considered a “show vote.”
“I can confirm, it looks like Thune is planning to bring it to a vote next week as a show vote,” the source said. “Despite outrage from GOP voters and the specific request of the president, he is not planning on pursuing a standing filibuster or any other method to actually pass the bill.”
A standing filibuster would bypass the 60-vote threshold needed to pass legislation and allow the legislation to pass with just 50 votes.
There are currently 53 Republicans in the Senate.
The Daily Signal reached out to Florida state Senate Democrat Leader Lori Berman and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for comment, but neither responded by publication time.
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]