For context, 11% (approx. 1,700,000) of the voting-age population of Florida, and nearly a quarter of the Black citizens, were unable to vote in 2018 due to the lifetime disenfranchisement of...
For context, 11% (approx. 1,700,000) of the voting-age population of Florida, and nearly a quarter of the Black citizens, were unable to vote in 2018 due to the lifetime disenfranchisement of former felons.
Due to Florida's weighting in the Electoral College, those votes could have changed the outcome in three out of the last five U.S. presidential elections.
The state Legislature followed up with a law clarifying that in order to get their voting rights back, felons needed to pay off all fines and fees related to their convictions. Hundreds of millions of dollars in fines are owed across the state, including $278 million in Miami-Dade County alone.
But the same law also offers a way out.
It allows the courts to modify the original criminal sentences to "no longer require completion" of things that were originally required. Under that law, money owed can be waived or lowered, and other requirements like community service hours can be reduced.
Now, the implementation is playing out in very different — and partisan — ways across the state. In counties under Democratic control, more people are getting their voting rights back. And in counties under Republican control, many potential voters are missing out.
For context, 11% (approx. 1,700,000) of the voting-age population of Florida, and nearly a quarter of the Black citizens, were unable to vote in 2018 due to the lifetime disenfranchisement of former felons.
Due to Florida's weighting in the Electoral College, those votes could have changed the outcome in three out of the last five U.S. presidential elections.
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