Showing no respect for voters, Republicans trying to impede former felons from voting in Florida
In another example of how little respect Republican politicians in Florida have for voters, last year’s Amendment 4, which passed with a 64.5 percent majority, is already being taken apart by the State Legislature led by newly elected governor Ron DeSantis. Amendment 4 to the Florida Constitution restored voting rights to more than 1.4 million felons who had already served their time in prison. It guarantees the same for all others coming out of prison. It does not apply to Floridians convicted of murder or sexual offenses.
But immediately after taking office, Governor DeSantis said that the constitutional amendment required an “implementing bill.” And to help make restoration more difficult for persons who had served their prison time — a majority of whom are Blacks and/or Latinos — Republican lawmakers installed the requirement that felons pay all fines, fees and restitution before being eligible to vote.
As a result at least four lawsuits have been filed by the likes of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, the League of Women Voters of Florida, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law.
As reported by The Center Square, “In the first of two lawsuits filed Friday night, the groups claimed making felons’ right to vote conditional on whether they can afford to pay fines and restitution violate the First,14th, 15th and 21st amendments.”
It adds that “‘the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a fourth lawsuit on behalf of Rosemary Osborne McCoy, 61, and Sheila Diana Singleton, 56, of Duval County, claiming the new law denies their “right to vote based purely on their low-income economic status.’”
“The lawsuit argues the financial requirement ‘is a direct contravention of the clear and unambiguous language in Amendment 4’ and that it violates the 14th, 24th – which outlawed poll taxes – and 8th amendments.”
In the end, it is all a concerted effort directed from the White House, whom DeSantis answers to, to keep former felons from voting — especially during the 2020 elections. A majority of political operatives feel that most of these more than one million new voters would exercise their new right in favor of Democrats. Something the president would not like to see in Florida.
