Case Summary

In May 2025, LULAC co-filed a brief to help oppose Florida’s new law imposing harsh requirements on its direct democracy Ballot Initiative Process. In July, a judge issued a narrow preliminary injunction barring Florida from requiring petition circulators to prove their citizenship.

“Legislators are trying to silence the voices of Floridians, including those who have been historically excluded from the lawmaking process. These communities have historically relied on the ballot initiative process to be heard,” said Roman Palomares, national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). “By erecting barriers to signature gathering and threatening organizers with criminal penalties, HB 1205 undermines the right to speech and violates one of the last remaining tools communities have to hold the powerful accountable. We cannot let this stand.”

“The right to pursue citizen-led ballot initiatives is enshrined in the Florida state constitution,” said Debbie Chandler, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Florida. “This new law doesn’t just make it harder to utilize this constitutionally protected process, it makes it virtually impossible. It’s a shameful and illegal attack on Florida’s voters by legislators who are unwilling to listen to the voters.”

The Florida Constitution guarantees voters’ right to participate directly in the lawmaking process though voter-led ballot initiatives. Those ballot initiatives have enshrined critical new policies in the Florida Constitution, from fair redistricting, to universal pre-K, to the right to privacy.

More recently, however, Florida’s legislature has worked to restrict voters’ ability to bring ballot initiatives—attempting to monopolize the power to pass laws and constitutional amendments. In a major new law, the Florida legislature has added draconian requirements on petitioners trying to get new initiatives on the ballot. People signing petitions now need to supply their Social Security or other ID number, and people circulating petitions now need to prove that they are U.S. citizens and Florida residences—with eye-popping fines levied on any petitioner who makes a mistake.

Florida’s new law unconstitutionally restricts democracy in Florida. It restricts people’s First Amendment right to circulate petitions. And it eviscerates people’s right under the Florida constitution to pass laws through ballot initiatives by making it nearly impossible to put a new initiative on the ballot.

Further Reading:

www.lwv.org/newsroom/press-releases/league-women-voters-florida-and-lulac-secure-narrow-preliminary-injunction

www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/desantis-and-his-allies-go-war-against-direct-democracy

Litigation

Case Type: Immigrants' Rights

Location: New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts

Legal Documents

05/13/2025 Complaint

07/08/2025 PI Order

09/12/2025 Second Amended Complaint

In the News