Almost 7 out of 10 approved Amendment 4 in Florida; Republicans don’t care

When almost seven out of every 10 voters say yes to a ballot initiative, I would venture to guess that a great majority wants to see it implemented. Agreed?

In 2018, Florida voters went to the polls and elected a new governor, a new senator and a bunch of other politicians. Although a midterm election, which normally sees a poor turnout from voters, there were several races, including the governor’s, that prompted a greater participation than usual. To be exact, 63 percent of eligible voters in Florida participated in the past election. Compare that to 2014, which saw 51 percent participation, and 49 percent and 47 percent respectively in 2010 and 2006. 

So in a state with more than 13 million voters, almost 8.2 million of them voted in 2018. Of those almost 8.2 million who voted, almost 5.3 million, or 64.5 percent, voted in favor of Amendment 4. 

What is Amendment 4 and what are its implications?

According to the website Vox, “Florida’s Amendment 4 restores voting rights for people in the state convicted of felonies as long as they have completed their sentences, although anyone convicted of murder or felony sex offenses would be excluded.”

In other words, because of the passing of this new Amendment to the Florida constitution, there’s the possibility that almost 1.4 million potential voters (a little more than 9 percent of the voting age population) once excluded from participating can now register and vote. 

Many cheered the results. It was a long time coming…

Here’s the kicker: According to Vox, “Black people, who are disproportionately arrested and incarcerated, will benefit the most. In 2016, more than 418,000 black people out of a black voting-age population of more than 2.3 million, or 17.9 percent of potential black voters in Florida, had finished sentences but couldn’t vote due to a felony record, according to the Sentencing Project.” 

And when this reality hit some Tallahassee Republicans in the face, they are now trying to do what they’ve been doing in this state for years, deny voters what they voted in favor of. 

Let me explain, and let’s start with the new governor Ron DeSantis, the same young man who kicked off his campaign against African American Democrat Andrew Gillum last year by stating that voters would “monkey this up” if they elected Gillum. Interpret that statement anyway you want, but he did say it. 

The minute DeSantis took office as governor, he explained that the Amendment [4] required implementing legislation. 

Folks, what is so difficult in implementing legislation favored by 65 percent? It’s simple, you’re a felon (not a murderer or sexual predator), you’ve served your time and are now out; all you need to do is fill out a voter registration form, and you’re registered to vote. Now how difficult was that?

Wait just a minute, say the Republicans. They feel the Amendment needs to be defined for clarity. A Republican state representative from Naples asked how one could really tell when an offender has actually completed his or her sentence…

A Washington Post article demonstrates the extent these people are willing to go to deny felons who have paid their due to society their right to vote:

“One GOP proposal broadly defined sexual offense to include — in addition to violent crimes — video voyeurism, lewd exhibition, prostitution and locating an adult entertainment store within 2,500 feet of a school.”

“More troubling for Amendment 4 advocates, though, was the inclusion of costs that have been converted by a judge to civil liens to allow poor defendants more time to pay. Under those rules, it could take years for an individual who has otherwise completed their sentence to be eligible to vote.”

Let me explain the case of the civil liens that proves that these Republicans don’t respect voters and want to keep certain potential voters from voting. There’s the case of Coral Nichols from Seminole County, who as the Washington Post story tell us “served nearly five years for grand theft and fraud and said she is close to completing 10 years of probation. She was also ordered to pay $190,000 in restitution, but the amount was converted to a civil lien long ago, and she pays according to her ability every month.”

If “inclusion of costs” is added to Ms. Nichols’ case in order to regain her right to vote, the fact is that she will never vote again.

Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis and elections to come

The president received less than 10 percent of the black vote in 2016. Florida is a key state if Trump is to repeat as president in 2020. The more black voters on Florida’s rolls, the less the chances of a Trump victory in Florida. 

Ron DeSantis was a little known member of Congress who in 2018 decided he wanted to be Florida’s next governor. DeSantis is (and was) a big Trump supporter who the president, smartly, took note of. Trump endorsed him via tweet on June 22, 2018, and helped change DeSantis’ fortunes. He had been trailing in the primary before the tweet.

In other words, DeSantis owes the president — plenty. 

Then there’s DeSantis himself. When you run for governor of Florida you’d like two terms in order to accomplish your goals. In 2018, DeSantis won a very tight race against Andrew Gillum, the former mayor of Tallahassee and as already mentioned a black man. The race was decided by less than one-half of one percent of the Florida voters — or 32,463 votes.

Gillum just announced a new project to register new voters in Florida before the 2020 presidential election. If those new persons registered include a large portion of the half million black voters out there who have been denied their voting rights until the passage of Amendment 4, both Trump in 2020, and DeSantis in 2022, in another political battle with Gillum, for example, might be seeing the writing on the wall in Florida.

Which shows you why Republicans in Florida have once again decided they will not respect the wish of the voters.