Federal Judge in Critical Swing State Rules Ballots for 2020 Election Must Be Provided in Spanish

WATCH: Blue states move to block President Trump from 2020 ballot

As if Florida’s elections needed to get any messier, a federal judge has ordered 32 Florida counties must provide ballots in Spanish beginning next year. Yup – 2020.

According to this:

The order was in the form of a preliminary injunction in a case brought by voters who were educated in Puerto Rico and are lacking proficiency in English, The Palm Beach Post reported.

“Compliance with this Order is not optional,” Chief Judge Mark Walker of the Northern District of Florida Gainesville Division wrote in a Friday ruling. “This Court will not hesitate to use every tool the law provides to enforce this Order.”

Judge Walker reportedly noted that Section 4(e) of the Voting Rights Act “prohibits English-only elections for those citizens — yes, citizens — educated in Puerto Rico in Spanish.”  Therefore, he ordered that the 32 counties in question must provide voters with ballots in Spanish starting with Florida’s primary election scheduled for March 17, 2020.

Why do I feel like this is going to cause MAJOR issues for them?

They can’t even keep track of ballots in ONE language.

The judge did recognize that the Florida government has promised to take steps on their own that would provide Spanish language ballots. Gov. Ron DeSantis and Secretary of State Laurel Lee have already inititated the process of creating new rules that would require the state to provide voters with Spanish-language ballots in time for the 2020 general election.

Judge Walker noted that DeSantis and Lee “should be lauded” for their efforts, but that the injunction is necessary to make sure Spanish-speaking citizens are covered until the new rules are in effect, and in case the new rules are not sufficiently compliant with the requirements of the Voting Rights Act.

We’ll see how this all pans out.

One thing I WILL say? If you are a CITIZEN – you have a right to vote. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say you must speak ENGLISH to vote. Whether or not Citizens should learn English is a different argument – but as it stands, I will not argue against the FACT that Spanish-speaking citizens have just as much a RIGHT to vote in elections as does anyone else.

It’s the logistics of it all that I see becoming a nightmare.