Sierra Club: Gov. DeSantis Employs Jim Crow-style Voting Suppression Tactics
TALLAHASSEE, FL — Earlier today, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 90 into law, a Jim Crow-style voter suppression bill that will make it more difficult for Floridians to vote. Florida is the latest state to enact a voter suppression bill since the 2020 election. In total, 47 Republican legislatures have introduced more than 350 Jim Crow-inspired bills to suppress votes.
The U.S. Senate will soon take up the For the People Act, which will create nationwide automatic and same day voter registration, strengthen anti-corruption laws to curb the influence of corporate polluters, put an end to partisan gerrymandering, restore voting rights for 1.7 million formerly incarcerated people and more.
In response, the Sierra Club's Acting Florida Chapter Director Deborah Foote issued the following statement:
"Gov. DeSantis and the Florida Republican Party are spewing a lot of lies when it comes to this bill, but the fact of the matter is that Senate Bill 90 is a voter suppression tactic. Florida isn't the first state to employ this effort, they're just the latest in a long list of states to enact legislation that seeks to disenfranchise people of color, disabled people, young people, and the elderly.
"Florida is still facing a once-in-a-generation pandemic, dismal vaccination rates and a crushing economic downturn, yet Gov. DeSantis and his allies are more focused on taking away Floridians' right to vote. The passage of voter suppression bills is a deliberate attempt to grab power and erode our democracy. Enough is enough. We call on the U.S. Senate to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to help restore voting rights for all Americans."