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Voting Rights Advocates Sue Over Florida GOP 'Show Your Papers' Law
"The Legislature's failure to look out for constituents instead of legislators' own political interests will harm married women, naturalized citizens, young people, and many other eligible voters."
Apr 01, 2026
As President Donald Trump bullies Congress to pass a voter suppression bill while also trying to take matters into his own hands with an executive order, voting rights advocates on Wednesday sued to block similar legislation passed by Florida Republicans.
Common Cause, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Florida Rising, Hispanic Federation, League of Women Voters of Florida, and UnidosUS filed the lawsuit over House Bill 991 on the same day that the state's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signed it. The law requires documentary "evidence of citizenship," such as a birth certificate or passport, to register to vote or remain on the rolls.
"New barriers to voting too often fall hardest on the communities that have long fought to be heard in our democracy," noted Caren Short, director of legal and research at the League of Women Voters of the United States. "Sadly, but unsurprisingly, Florida's new documentary proof of citizenship law requirement is based on xenophobic lies and disinformation."
It's already illegal for noncitizens to vote, and research has shown voter fraud is incredibly rare. Short said that "the Legislature's failure to look out for constituents instead of legislators' own political interests will harm married women, naturalized citizens, young people, and many other eligible voters who do not have ready access to documents like passports or birth certificates."
Common Cause Florida executive director Amy Keith warned that "if this law stands, thousands of US citizens will be removed from Florida's voter rolls, blocking them from voting in the next presidential election if they can't afford specific documents."
"Life is getting increasingly harder and more expensive in Florida," Keith continued, "but with this bill, legislators are purging the very voters who are suffering most from Florida's affordability crisis. I don't think that's a coincidence."
UnidosUS Florida state director Jared Nordlund similarly said that the state's Republican policymakers "know their agenda is unpopular, and when they cannot win by persuading voters, they try to win by making it harder for people to vote."
"HB 991 is another solution in search of a problem, and Florida is once again the testing ground for a voter suppression playbook that could spread nationwide," Nordlund declared. "These laws target the voices they fear most, especially women, communities of color, and working-class voters."
The groups behind the suit—filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida—are represented by the state and national ACLU as well as the Advancement Project and LatinoJustice PRLDEF.
BREAKING: Gov. Ron DeSantis just signed Florida’s new anti-voter law, HB 991. This “show your papers” law adds unnecessary barriers to voting, so @aclu.org and @aclufl.bsky.social are suing. In America, voters choose our leaders — politicians don’t get to choose who votes.We’ll see you in court.
— Abdelilah Skhir (@abskhir.bsky.social) April 1, 2026 at 12:18 PM
"Florida's new 'show your papers' law is a blatant attempt to add unnecessary barriers to the ballot box," said Jonathan Topaz, staff attorney with the ACLU's Voting Rights Project. "We bring this lawsuit to ensure that Florida cannot block its eligible voters from exercising their fundamental right to vote because of missing or mismatched paperwork."
Separately on Wednesday, Elias Law Group launched another legal challenge on behalf of the Florida NAACP and the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, also challenging what law firm partner Abha Khanna called "one of the worst voter suppression laws in modern American history." This case was filed in the Northern District of Florida.
DeSantis' signing of HB 991 and the subsequent suits came a day after Trump signed a voter suppression executive order that critics called a "blatant, unconstitutional abuse of power." The measure requires the secretary of homeland security to establish a "citizenship list" of verified eligible voters in each state and directs the postmaster general to make new rules for voting by mail.
Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, said in a Tuesday statement that "once again, President Trump is attempting to seize power he does not have. The president's order is not about protecting elections—it's about trying to control them and using that control to make it harder to vote for his perceived enemies. The Constitution is very clear: Only Congress and the states can make laws regarding our elections."
"The ability to vote by mail is crucial to our democracy," she explained. "It ensures that voters with disabilities, those without transportation access, working families, those who are deployed or otherwise abroad, and many others who rely on its flexibility can exercise their right to vote. President Trump's attempts to undermine a safe, proven, and reliable method of voting is just another part of his strategy to sow distrust in our elections. As always, we are prepared to protect our democracy and our right to vote in court against these continued unconstitutional attacks."
Trump signed the order while pressuring the US Senate to pass anti-voter legislation that's already been approved by Republicans in the House of Representatives. Advancement Project power and democracy program director Hani Mirza said that the president's directive "cannot be separated from the broader legislative push for the SAVE America Act, which would impose burdensome proof-of-citizenship and photo ID requirements that would create new barriers to the ballot for millions of Americans."
"The authoritarian plan to shrink the number of people who can participate in the 2026 midterms is clear," Mirza added, just over seven months before Election Day. "In our ongoing pursuit of a truly multiracial democracy, we refuse to remain silent and will continue to defend the right to vote until every community is heard and every eligible voter is able to cast a ballot that counts."
This article has been updated to include a second lawsuit against the Florida law.
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Cuba Operating on Fumes While Marco Rubio Smirks
It’s doubly ironic that Rubio who thinks he knows so much about Cuba has been to Cuba only once, for only one day visiting the American prison at the US naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba.
Apr 01, 2026
As 700 international solidarity citizens visited Cuba last weekend, Cuban-American Secretary of State Marco Rubio smirked at the humanitarian disaster his and Trump’s policies were wrecking on Cuba, as small island nation of 9 million people only 90 miles off the tip of Florida. Rubio had predicted the Cuban government would fall from the disastrous policies, particularly the blockade of fuel to the island.
But Rubio’s plan was partially upended on Sunday night, when President Trump decided to allow a Russian oil tanker carrying 100 tons of oil to deliver it to Cuba.
International Citizens Solidarity with Cuba, While Nations Turn Their Backs on Cuba
Last weekend, I was in Cuba for the second time in two months, joining 700 international solidarity citizens from 30 countries. Organized in less than six weeks by Progressive International, CODEPINK: Women For Peace, and many other groups, hundreds of persons outraged about the latest US punishment of the Cuban people saw very quickly and deeply the inhumane effects of the recent oil embargo as well as the cumulative effects of a 65-year-old US economic blockade of Cuba.
On my first trip this year, in late January 2026, the capital city of Havana, where we spent most of our time, was showing definite signs of the negative effects of the blockade, particularly of the fuel shortage.
Six weeks later in mid-March, the lack of fuel was starkly evident. Very few cars were on the streets. Lines for the few buses with fuel were very long.
Cubans were cooking with wood in the parks as electricity was sporadic.
Electrical blackouts of the entire country were frequent.
Hospital generators were almost out of fuel.
Cuba Operating on Fumes
Aiming directly at Mexico, Trump’s January 29, 2026 executive order threatened heavy tariffs on “any other country that directly or indirectly sells or otherwise provides any oil to Cuba.” PEMEX, the Mexico state oil company, has been the primary supplier of oil to Cuba after the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January. Sadly, bending to Washington’s threat, with only two to three weeks left of oil in Cuba at the time of the executive order, the Mexican government suspended shipments of oil to keep the country running.
While rumors abounded of Russia sending an oil tanker to Cuba, no ship was in sight until Sunday.
In the meantime, Cuba is operating on fumes.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio Willing to Torpedo the Entire Country of Cuba
It is ironic that Cuban-American Rubio has US citizenship through the “birthright law” that he and the Trump administration are trying to eliminate. The US Supreme Court is hearing arguments on Rubio’s case for torpedoing the birthright law on April 1.
Rubio was born in the US of non-U.S. citizen parents who fled the Baptista regime before the Cuban revolution against Baptista. Finally, journalists delved into his background years after Rubio entered politics and he was forced to acknowledge his “birthright” citizenship something he had kept hidden.
It’s doubly ironic that Rubio who thinks he knows so much about Cuba has been to Cuba only once, for only one day visiting the American prison at the US naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba.
Rubio grew up in Miami in midst of the fervent anti-revolution rhetoric and actions. He quickly saw that his political future rested with being as anti-revolution as possible, despite the strides in health and education that were being made in Cuba.
U.S. Government, not the Cuban Government, Holding up Compensation of US Citizens and Corporations from 1959 Nationalization
In his many years in Florida state politics and then as a US senator, Rubio refused to acknowledge that it was the US government that stopped compensation of US individuals and corporations when the revolutionary government nationalized services for the people to take them from the hands of the private sector that was getting richer and richer off the backs of the poverty stricken and enslaved Cubans.
After the 1959 revolution, Cuba negotiated “lump sum” compensation packages with Canada, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Spain, and France for individuals and corporations whose property had been nationalized.
The United States, however, refused to participate in the compensation plan for US individuals and businesses. Instead, the US decided efforts to overthrow the revolutionary Cuban government would be its strategy.
Today, 65-years later, in order to attract US private investment to Cuba, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossio told Drop Site News that the Cuban government will attempt to convince the US government to agree to a “lump sum” to handle the claims of approximately 6,000 US individuals and businesses who have filed claims for nationalized property, as a part of a larger agreement that would eliminate US sanctions and the economic blockade. The claims that have been certified by US Foreign Claims settlement Commission initially totaled $1.9 billion but now with interest accumulated over the decades amount to around $9 billion.
Trump’s “Change of Heart” to Let Oil Come Into Cuba
On an evening flight of Air Force One on Sunday, President Trump said to reporters: "I told them if a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem with that, whether it's Russia or not. Whether or not they get a boat of oil, it’s not going to matter. I'd prefer letting it in, whether it’s Russia or anybody else, because the people need heat and cooling and everything else."
The Russian-owned oil tanker Anatoly Kolodkin left Primorsk, Russia on March 8 carrying 730,000 barrels of crude oil (100,000 tons) and is expected to dock at the Matanzas, Cuba oil storage facility on the morning of April 1. The tanker was accompanied by a Russian naval escort through the English Channel. The oil will be processed at one of Cuba’s three refineries, located in Havana, Cienfuegos, and Santiago.
When questioned about the oil delivery, Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “The brutal blockade is jeopardizing life-support systems and electricity generation” and inhibiting the ability of Cubans to provide medical services. “Russia considers it its duty not to stand idly by and to provide the necessary assistance to our Cuban friends.”
International Group Visits Cuba in Solidarity with the Cuban People
The international delegations last week with over 700 persons were a part of a globalized effort called the Nuestra América Convoy organized by Progressive International. Hundreds of people came to Cuba from Latin America, the United States, Canada, and Europe to denounce the US blockade on Cuba and deliver life-saving aid to the Cuban people.
CODEPINK’s Nuestra América Convoy delegation of 170 people brought together a politically diverse but deeply aligned group of people—healthcare workers, lawyers, professors, students, veterans, labor organizers, journalists, independent media workers, photographers, filmmakers, writers, artists, researchers, faith-based activists, immigrant justice organizers, reproductive justice advocates, Palestine solidarity activists, Black liberation organizers, cultural workers, and more.
CODEPINK’s delegation delivered 6,300 pounds of urgently needed medicines and medical supplies, including neonatal equipment, analgesics, catheters, and other critical hospital materials. The supplies, valued at $433,000, were collected by Global Health Partners.
In addition to the several tons of medical aid, delegates brought suitcases containing supplies tailored to the needs of specific groups affected by the blockade, such as LGBTQ+ people, artists, students, animals, and others.
In total, the Nuestra America convoy delivered:
- More than $400,000 of humanitarian supplies on a charter flight, including medical equipment, medicines, staple foods, infant nutrition products, and hygiene supplies, coordinated by CODEPINK.
- Over $500,000 worth of solar panels and generators to support hospitals and essential infrastructure facing electricity shortages.
- Over 2000 pounds of medical supplies from Europe, carried by a medical delegation travelling from Milan, Italy.
- Cancer medicines valued at $23,000 organized by Global Exchange.
- Around 1100 pounds of medical supplies from Brazil, coordinated by the Brazilian Front of Solidarity with Cuba.
- Solar-powered equipment from Colombia, including solar chargers and lighting systems.
- Menstrual health kits for approximately 1,300 women, organized by a solidarity coalition in Mexico.
- $100,000 in aid for maternity centers.
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Trump-Endorsed Candidate Loses to Democrat in President's Mar-a-Lago Home District
Even Trump's mail-in ballot was not enough to keep Democrat Emily Gregory from winning the seat over Republican Jon Maples in a district swing of more than 13 points.
Mar 25, 2026
A Democrat in Florida running to win a state house seat in the Palm Beach district that includes US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate was declared the winner in a special election on Tuesday night, defeating the Trump-endorsed Republican in yet another powerful rebuke to the running of the country by the president and his party.
Emily Gregory flipped Florida's House District 87, defeating Republican Jon Maples, who Trump loudly endorsed and cast his vote for personally via mail-in ballot—something he wants to bar other voters nationwide from being able to do. Trump said on Monday that Maples, a financial planner who previously held office at the municipal level, was the choice of "so many of my Palm Beach County friends.”
But with almost all votes counted late Tuesday night, the Associated Press reported Gregory led by 2.4 percentage points, or 797 votes. In 2024, the district went to Republicans by 11 points.
"Republicans are vulnerable everywhere.”
Political strategist Sawyer Hackett named the obvious implication by saying, at least through November of 2026, "Trump will be represented by a Democrat in the Florida legislature."
“I think it demonstrates where the Florida voter is,” Gregory, who runs a fitness center for postpartum mothers, told Politico in an interview following her victory. “They want someone who is focused on solutions and the issues and not focused on the noise.”
“If Mar-a-Lago is vulnerable, imagine what’s possible this November,” said Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, in response to the victory. Williams noted that Gregory's win was the 29th seat that Democrats have flipped from GOP control since Trump returned to office last year.
“Gas prices are spiking, grocery costs are up, and families can’t get by," she said. "It’s clear voters at the polls are fed up with Republicans. A Trump +11 district in his own backyard shouldn’t be in play for Democrats, but tonight proves Republicans are vulnerable everywhere.”
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