Attorneys representing voting-rights groups requested nearly $3.2 million in legal fees and associated costs on Wednesday following their partially successful challenge to Florida’s 2021 elections law.
The motion, filed in Tallahassee, seeks $2,966,925 in attorney fees and $217,223 in expenses, urging Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker to approve the reimbursement. The legal battle centers around SB 90, a law that imposed additional restrictions on mail-in voting and voter-registration groups while potentially barring individuals from distributing snacks and water to voters in line.
In a 2022 ruling, Judge Walker determined that SB 90 was crafted with discriminatory intent against Black voters. However, key elements of his ruling were later overturned by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Despite this, the voting-rights groups achieved critical victories, including blocking provisions such as one that prohibited activities outside polling places deemed to “influence a voter,” which the appeals court ruled as “unconstitutionally vague.”
