felon voting rights

After years of voter disenfranchisement, Floridians had finally had enough. In 2018 state voters approved a constitutional amendment restoring voting rights to most felons. The legislature attempted to stymie that effort by passing a state law requiring them to repay fines, fees, and restitution. A lawsuit ensued, with organizations like the ACLU claiming the law amounted to a poll tax, and Republican lawmakers defending it. This story takes a look at what’s happened with the amendment since it passed, and the push to get people signed up to vote before the August primary.

Florida is appealing a ruling that says it cannot require felons to repay fines, fees, and restitution before registering to vote. Opponents call that requirement a poll tax. The ruling came two years after voters approved a state constitutional amendment allowing most felons to receive their voting rights back. The second part of this series looks at the history of felon voting and what led to 2018's Amendment 4.

Voter registration advocates are rushing to register new voters in the run-up to the August primary and November presidential election. In Florida, the effort has been slowed as the state fights a lawsuit over whether felons have to repay fines and fees before they can vote. The first of a four-part series examines the implications of Florida’s Amendment 4, and the ongoing battle over felon voting rights.

A federal appellate court has agreed to fast track the state’s appeal of a ruling that paved the way for hundreds of thousands of Florida felons to register and vote in the November elections. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday granted Gov. Ron DeSantis’ request to expedite the appeal.

Governor Ron DeSantis says he will challenge a recent court ruling that clears the way for felons to vote before paying fines, fees, and restitution. The appeal will be sent to the 11th judicial circuit in Atlanta. But Brennan Center for Justice attorney Sean Morales-Doyle says he’s confident Sunday’s ruling is firm and won’t change under another court.

Most felons who want to register to vote in Florida can now do so without having to worry about paying fines, fees, and court-ordered restitution first. Advocates are gearing up to try and get people registered ahead of the upcoming elections.

Florida felons don’t have to repay fines, fees, and restitution before registering to vote. That’s according to a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle. He issued his decision Sunday after hearing arguments earlier in the month over a 2019 law that implemented a 2018 constitutional amendment to restore voting rights to most felons in Florida.

In 2018 Florida voters agreed that felons should have their right to vote back once they’ve completed their sentence. In 2019 the state created a law that tied repayment of legal financial obligations to that right. The law was challenged in court where plaintiffs have argued it created a poll tax. Closing arguments in the case were made Wednesday and the judge in the case appeared to agree with the plaintiffs.

Amid rebukes from a federal judge, a top Florida elections official laid out the state’s process for determining whether felons are eligible to vote under a law that is the subject of a closely watched voting-rights trial that entered its second week Monday.

Attorneys representing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration turned to a man who garnered international acclaim for his advocacy of a 2018 constitutional amendment designed to restore felons’ voting rights. Lawyers for DeSantis played a video deposition of Desmond Meade, who said he stands behind the disputed law, which the Republican-controlled Legislature passed last year to carry out the constitutional amendment.