Nov 22, 2024 Story by: Editor
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.”
The plaintiffs argued this provision could have been used to prevent offering food or water to voters waiting in line, a practice widely criticized as disproportionately affecting minority and elderly voters.
In May, Judge Walker declared the groups “prevailing parties” for successfully challenging certain aspects of the law, entitling them to seek reimbursement for legal fees and costs. He is now tasked with deciding whether to approve the requested amounts.
The 2021 law was passed under Gov. Ron DeSantis and a Republican-controlled Legislature amid a nationwide push by GOP leaders to implement voting restrictions following former President Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election. While Florida experienced a relatively smooth 2020 election, Republican lawmakers justified the changes as necessary to enhance election security. Source: Creative Loafing
