Bill Requiring New FL Voters To Prove U.S. Citizenship Clears First Committee

The Senate Ethics ⁘ Elections Committee discussing election bill on Feb. 4, 2026. (Photo by Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix) A bill to impose heightened requirements for first-time voters, including mandating presentation of documents such as a U.S. passport or birth certificate — received its first hearing in this year's legislative session, and was approved by a party-line vote in the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee on Wednesday. The proposal ( SB 1334) is sponsored by Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach. It would make a number of revisions to election laws, but by far the most contentious would require a voter to provide specific documents to prove he or she a U.S. citizen if records from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) indicate that they are not.

Grall says that only voters who lack a driver's license that is REAL ID-compliant would have to prove their citizenship. (A 2005 federal law called the REAL ID Act requires standardized driver's licenses and ID cards to be issued by all U.S. states). She later said that 99% of Floridians are already REAL ID-compliant. A current and valid Florida driver license of Florida ID card — if that card indicates U.S. citizenship; Senator Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton, questioned Grall about why an expired U.S. passport would not be sufficient to prove one's U.S. citizenship (new U.S. passports are valid for 10 years). According to a report by the liberal D.C-based Center for American Progress , more than 8 million Floridians lacked a U.S. passport in fiscal year 2024. You might also find this interesting: Visit website