In a Win for Ron DeSantis, Appeals Court Upholds Florida Voting Law

David Voreacos
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- A US appeals court upheld a Florida election law, overturning a federal judge who has ruled several times against the conservative agenda of Governor Ron DeSantis and viewed the voter law as discriminatory against Blacks.

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The decision Thursday was a victory for DeSantis, who backed the 2021 law that tightened procedures on absentee ballot drop boxes, voter solicitation at polling places and third-party voter registration groups.

“We hold that the findings of intentional racial discrimination rest on both legal errors and clearly erroneous findings of fact,” a third-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.

The panel, in a 2-1 decision, said the law does not violate the US Constitution or the Voting Rights Act, as US District Judge Mark Walker ruled in March 2022. Voting rights groups had sued to challenge several provisions of the law.

Walker, appointed in 2012 by President Barack Obama, has shown little sympathy for DeSantis’s policy objectives. The judge ruled against Florida’s ban on some workplace bias and diversity training, saying it violates employers’ free-speech rights, and he blocked part of a law restricting how race and gender can be taught in state universities.

He’s also handling Walt Disney Co.’s lawsuit against DeSantis alleging political retaliation for stripping the company of control over the jurisdiction in which its Florida theme parks sit.

Read More: Disney Suit Against DeSantis Assigned to Obama-Appointed Judge

In the voting rights case, the appeals court majority concluded Walker had improperly framed his analysis around “the stark results of a political system that, for well over a century, has overrepresented White Floridians and underrepresented Black” residents, Judge William Pryor wrote.

Walker erred by accepting that “a racist past is evidence of current intent,” and he failed to follow the appellate court’s prior rulings on “the proper scope of a historical inquiry,” according to the opinion.

“Evidence of historical discrimination imported through socioeconomic data is no exception,” wrote Pryor, who was appointed by President George W. Bush. “Under our precedent, this history cannot support a finding of discriminatory intent in this case. Florida’s more recent history does not support a finding of discriminatory intent.”

Pryor was joined by Judge Britt Grant, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump.

False Election Claim

Florida was one of several states that changed election laws after Trump falsely claimed he lost the 2020 election.

The founder of one of the groups that sued, Equal Ground, said she was “deeply disappointed” in the ruling.

“Let’s be clear, Governor DeSantis and the Florida GOP passed this voter suppression law with the intent to silence Black voices and diminish the power of Black voters, who are a threat to their political power,” Jasmine Burney-Clark said in a statement.

“The appeals court has assisted Florida Republicans in silencing Black and Brown Floridians, but attacks to suppress our voices are nothing new, and we will adapt, organize, and overcome until we are heard and we are represented,” she said.

(Updates in fifth paragraph with background on judge)

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