Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed the Florida SAVE Act into law, a measure state officials say is aimed at strengthening election security, improving voter roll accuracy, and increasing transparency in the state’s electoral system.
The legislation, passed as House Bill 991, builds on a series of election-related reforms enacted in Florida since the 2020 election cycle. According to state leaders, those earlier changes included stricter identification requirements for vote-by-mail ballots, limits on third-party ballot collection, bans on unsolicited mass mail ballot applications, and restrictions on private funding in election administration. Florida also created the Office of Election Crimes and Security in 2022 to investigate and prosecute election law violations.
Under the new law, voter registration procedures will be updated to require verification of U.S. citizenship using REAL ID data for new and updated registrations. The measure also establishes a process for identifying and removing potentially ineligible noncitizens from voter rolls, while allowing individuals to provide documentation to confirm their eligibility. Additionally, the law adds explicit notice that submitting false voter registration information constitutes a felony offense.
The SAVE Act includes provisions intended to improve the maintenance of voter rolls by increasing coordination between state and local agencies. Supervisors of elections will be required to investigate flagged registrations and take appropriate action where necessary. The legislation also mandates that voting be conducted using paper ballots to ensure a verifiable record and updates identification requirements to limit acceptable forms of ID to secure, government-issued credentials.
New requirements for candidates are also included in the measure. Candidates must affirm that they meet all legal qualifications for office and disclose any dual citizenship status. Federal candidates will be required to report stock trading activity while in office, and the law creates a legal process for challenging candidate eligibility. It also restricts last-minute name changes that could potentially confuse voters.
The law further strengthens enforcement provisions by establishing a five-year statute of limitations for felony election offenses and prohibiting candidates, political committees, and political parties from knowingly accepting foreign contributions. State officials say the changes are intended to deter election-related misconduct and reinforce public confidence in the electoral process.
