In a decision with potentially far-reaching implications for November’s election, a federal judge in Florida has determined a state law that would have …
In a decision with potentially far-reaching implications for November’s election, a federal judge in Florida has determined a state law that would have required felons to pay any outstanding court fees and fines before they can register to vote is unconstitutional.
The ruling on Sunday by U. S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle moves hundreds of thousands of felons who have completed « all terms of their sentence including probation and parole » one step closer to winning back their right to vote.
The case at the center of the decision stems from a constitutional amendment overwhelmingly approved by Florida voters in 2018 overturning a 150-year-old law that permanently disenfranchised people with felony convictions.
The result was celebrated by supporters as the nation’s largest expansion of voting right in decades, but seven months later, the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signed a bill limiting the law only to those who have successfully paid their court-related debts.
