©2024 The News Service of Florida
Attorneys for voting-rights groups argued Wednesday that the state should be required to pay nearly $3.2 million in legal fees and other costs after the groups’ partially successful challenge to a 2021 elections law.
The groups want Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker to award them $2,966,925 in attorney fees and $217,223 in expenses and costs, according to a motion filed in Tallahassee.
The request stems from a battle about a law (SB 90) that imposed new restrictions on mail-in voting and voter registration groups and could have prohibited people from giving snacks and drinks to voters waiting in line to cast ballots.
Walker ruled in 2022 that the law was intended to discriminate against Black voters, but a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned key parts of his ruling.
The voting-rights groups, however, succeeded in blocking parts of the law, including the appeals court saying that a prohibition on people “engaging in any activity with the . . . effect of influencing a voter” outside of polling places was “unconstitutionally vague.”
The plaintiffs argued the provision would prevent people from giving food or water to voters waiting in line to cast ballots.
Wednesday’s filing came after Walker ruled in May that the voting rights groups were “prevailing parties” on the parts of the law that they successfully challenged.
As a result, he said they were entitled to recover attorney fees and other legal costs from the state. Walker will consider the motion with the proposed amounts.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature approved the 2021 law as GOP leaders across the country pushed to make voting changes after former President Donald Trump’s loss in 2020.
While Florida had a relatively smooth 2020 election, Republican lawmakers argued the changes were necessary to make the state’s elections more secure.
