Voting rights advocates hold press conference in downtown Miami hoping to strike down Senate bill

MIAMI – Florida national and civil rights groups held a press conference on Thursday in downtown Miami on the appeal of the court decision overturning parts of SB90 — what groups are calling a voter suppression law — ahead of oral arguments in the case.

Florida Senate Bill 90 (SB90) is a law in the state of Florida that amends the state’s election law.

The act is part of a wider push by Republican lawmakers to restrict voting rights after the 2020 presidential election and has been often criticized as a voter suppression measure.

According to Dwight Boyd, a member of Florida Rising, “During early voting in 2021, one out of four Black voters and one out of five Latino voters waited 30 minutes or longer to vote in Miami-Dade County and only three in 20 white voters suffered the same wait times.”

“Florida’s dark history of erecting barriers to Black and brown voters is unjustified and unconstitutional,” said Boyd.

Proponents of SB90 say the law helps make elections smooth and secure.

If the challenge to the SB90 provisions is successfully appealed, parts of SB90 could make it harder to access secure ballot drop boxes, deter third-party voter registration organizations from registering people to vote and restrict the ability to provide food and water to voters waiting in long lines on Election Day.

Voting rights advocates are hoping to once again strike down SB90.

“Democracy is always worth fighting for,” said Miranda Galindo, Senior Counsel at Latino Justice PRLDEF.