Nonprofit Florida Rising Together filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday challenging Florida’s “exact match” voter registration policy, claiming it disproportionately disenfranchises Black and minority voters.

A lawsuit filed on Tuesday by the nonprofit organization Florida Rising Together targets a state voter registration policy that the group says disproportionately disenfranchises Black and minority voters.

The complaint, filed in federal court, challenges Florida’s “exact match” protocol, which requires voter registration applications to exactly match records from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles or the federal Social Security Administration. Florida Rising claims the policy has prevented more than 43,000 eligible Floridians from registering to vote since 2018 due to minor discrepancies, such as typos or missing punctuation.

According to the lawsuit, such errors often lead to applications being classified as “unverified,” which bars individuals from voting unless they go through a lengthy verification process. The group argues that this system disproportionately impacts Black and minority voters, citing data that shows Black voters are rejected at more than twice the rate of white voters in some counties. In Miami-Dade County, the complaint cites, Black residents make up 15 percent of registered voters but account for 40 percent of those denied registration due to mismatched Social Security numbers.

“The “exact match” protocol is compounded by a legacy of historic and deliberate disenfranchisement and interacts with the effects of racial and economic discrimination in access to the ballot that continue to plague Florida.” the complaint reads. “Taken together, the “exact match” protocol denies Black and other voters of color an equal opportunity to register to vote and participate in Florida’s political process.”

The lawsuit names Secretary of State Cord Byrd, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and several county election supervisors as defendants. It claims the protocol violates the U.S. Constitution, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

In a prepared release, Florida Rising argued that the policy creates unnecessary barriers to voting and exacerbates racial disparities in Florida’s election process.

“Florida’s “exact match” verification process is just another tool of voter suppression. It’s an inaccurate, burdensome practice that creates extra hurdles for Black voters and violates federal law,” says Judith Browne Dianis, Executive Director of Advancement Project, representing Florida Rising Together. “We will not allow Florida to cherry pick its voters nor set a dangerous example for other states.

The lawsuit also points out that many voters whose applications are flagged must cast provisional ballots, which are often not counted unless issues are resolved within two days after an election.

“In practice, a substantial number of provisional ballots cast by otherwise eligible voters are not counted, resulting in the disenfranchisement of eligible voters,” the lawsuit contends.

The group is asking the court to stop the enforcement of the protocol and require the state to accept voter registration applications even when there are minor discrepancies. Florida Rising is also seeking to have previously rejected voters reinstated to the voter rolls and wants election-related records preserved through 2026 to ensure transparency.