Appeals court upholds Florida voting restrictions approved by GOP lawmakers

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A federal appeals court sided with Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday when it overturned a lower court’s decision on a controversial voting law.

That law, approved by the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature in 2021, placed restrictions on the use of drop boxes and set new requirements for voter registration groups, among other things. A federal judge in March 2022 ruled that the law was discriminatory against minorities and placed unconstitutional burdens on voters.

In an extraordinary move, the judge in the 2022 decision, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, ordered the state to get court approval for a decade before it enacts changes in three areas of election law.