One Florida judge just issued a ruling that will make Ron DeSantis’ blood boil

Conservative Floridians thought they had reason to celebrate when Governor Ron DeSantis signed tough new election integrity laws.

But activist judges keep finding ways to undermine the will of the people.

And one Florida judge just issued a ruling that will make Ron DeSantis’ blood boil.

Federal Judge Blocks Key Parts of Florida’s Election Integrity Law

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker dealt a crushing blow to Florida’s efforts to secure its ballot initiative process when he issued a preliminary injunction blocking key provisions of the state’s new election law.

The law, signed by Governor DeSantis in May and taking effect July 1, aimed to prevent election fraud by requiring that only Florida residents and U.S. citizens could collect signatures for ballot initiatives.

But Walker ruled that these common-sense requirements somehow violated the First Amendment.

“But here, the State has categorically barred entire classes of people from participating in the core political speech that is central to this process,” Walker wrote in his 39-page order.¹

The ruling came after organizations backing ballot measures on recreational marijuana, Medicaid expansion, and clean water filed suit, arguing the new restrictions would cripple their signature-gathering operations.

Walker’s decision allows non-residents and non-citizens to continue collecting signatures for these ballot initiatives, creating obvious security vulnerabilities.

In his ruling, Walker found that blocking these provisions was necessary because the groups would otherwise suffer “irreparable injury” due to the immediate threat to their constitutional rights.²

DeSantis Administration Argued for Basic Election Security

The DeSantis administration had solid reasons for implementing these restrictions.

State lawyers argued that preventing out-of-state residents and non-U.S. citizens from handling signed petitions was essential for fraud prevention and easier investigations when problems arise.

It’s simple common sense – how can Florida law enforcement investigate potential fraud committed by people who don’t even live in the state?

The state also pointed to a report by the Office of Election Crimes and Security that found instances of fraud related to 2024 ballot initiatives on recreational marijuana and abortion rights.

But Walker dismissed these legitimate concerns, writing that the state’s arguments were “unpersuasive.”

The judge claimed that “even if the defendants are enjoined from enforcing the prohibition on non-residents and non-citizens from engaging in petition circulation, Florida’s law enforcement agencies maintain an arsenal of criminal provisions that remain enforceable against bad actors and fraudsters.”³

Liberal Groups Celebrate Their Victory

The ruling was a major win for the liberal organizations that challenged the law.

Florida Decides Healthcare, which is pushing for Medicaid expansion, praised the decision through its executive director Mitch Emerson, who said “this is a victory for the constitutional rights of Floridians, and brings us one step closer to providing healthcare access to over a million, including veterans, seniors, women, and working families.”⁴

Smart & Safe Florida, the group behind the recreational marijuana initiative, also benefited from the ruling.

These groups had complained that the new law would cost them millions in fines since they rely heavily on out-of-state volunteers to collect signatures.

The marijuana group told the court it would face $23.7 million in fines under the new law because it hired about 474 nonresident volunteers since March.

Under the law, groups that “knowingly” violate the restriction on non-U.S. citizens and non-Florida residents could face $50,000 fines and other sanctions.⁵

But that raises an obvious question – if these groups need to import out-of-state workers to gather signatures, how much real grassroots support do their initiatives actually have among Florida voters?

Some Provisions of the Law Remain in Effect

Not everything in Walker’s ruling went the liberals’ way.

The judge did uphold several other parts of the law, including a requirement that people who gather more than 25 signed petitions must register with the state.

He also allowed a 90-day moratorium on election supervisors processing petitions from July 1 through September 30 to remain in effect.

Walker found that the plaintiffs “have not demonstrated, at this juncture, that the registration requirements pose an impermissibly severe burden on speech.”⁴

The judge also rejected efforts to block requirements that petition gatherers provide their names, addresses, phone numbers, and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers when registering with the state.

But these smaller victories can’t make up for the massive blow Walker dealt to Florida’s election integrity efforts.

This Fits a Pattern of Judicial Activism

Walker’s ruling is just the latest example of federal judges interfering with states’ efforts to secure their elections.

The Obama appointee has a long history of blocking conservative policies in Florida, from immigration enforcement to voting laws.

This is the same judge who previously ruled that another part of the law’s expanded definition of “racketeering activity” was “unconstitutionally vague.”⁷

It’s clear that Walker is more interested in advancing liberal political causes than upholding the law.

The irony is that Walker claims to be protecting “core political speech” while undermining the basic integrity of the political process.

How can speech be meaningful if the system collecting it is compromised by fraud and outside interference?

The Battle for Election Integrity Continues

The groups pushing these ballot initiatives face a February 1 deadline to submit nearly 900,000 signatures to get their measures on the 2026 ballot.

So far, Florida Decides Healthcare has only submitted about 62,000 valid signatures for their Medicaid proposal.

Smart & Safe Florida has done better, submitting about 613,000 valid signatures and surpassing the threshold to trigger a Supreme Court review.⁸

But the real question is whether these liberal groups will be able to gather legitimate support from actual Florida voters, or whether they’ll continue to rely on out-of-state help to manufacture the appearance of grassroots support.

Thanks to Walker’s ruling, we may never know the difference.

The DeSantis administration should appeal this decision immediately and continue fighting for basic election integrity in Florida.

Conservative Floridians deserve to know that their ballot initiatives are driven by genuine support from their fellow citizens, not by imported activism from out-of-state liberal groups.

¹ Michelle Vecerina, “Judge blocks Florida rules barring nonresident, noncitizen petition gatherers,” Florida News, July 9, 2025.

² Ibid.

³ Stephany Matat, “Judge blocks part of new Florida petition law, says noncitizens can gather signatures,” USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida, July 9, 2025.

⁴ Michelle Vecerina, “Judge blocks Florida rules barring nonresident, noncitizen petition gatherers,” Florida News, July 9, 2025.

⁵ Stephany Matat, “Judge blocks part of new Florida petition law, says noncitizens can gather signatures,” USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida, July 9, 2025.

⁶ WJCT News, “Judge partially blocks law that ‘imposes severe burden’ on Florida’s ballot-initiative process,” July 9, 2025.

⁷ Michelle Vecerina, “Judge blocks Florida rules barring nonresident, noncitizen petition gatherers,” Florida News, July 9, 2025.

⁸ WJCT News, “Judge partially blocks law that ‘imposes severe burden’ on Florida’s ballot-initiative process,” July 9, 2025.