Republicans overturned Florida voters' will. They must not win for good.
NEARLY TWO-THIRDS of Florida voters backed a state constitutional amendment 18 months ago to re-enfranchise released felons, an overwhelming bipartisan consensus that was promptly negated by Republican legislators. Those state lawmakers, determined to block ballot access to hundreds of thousands of Floridians — most of them white but a disproportionate share African American — now face their day in court in a lawsuit brought by the very citizens whose most basic civil rights they have tried to deny.
As Florida Republicans try to run out the clock ahead of the November presidential election, a trial started Monday in federal court in which former felons who have completed their sentences, including parole and probation, are contesting the GOP’s attempt to overturn the results of Florida’s 2018?referendum. They should prevail: The GOP action is an affront to the popular will. An estimated 1.4?million released felons in Florida, nearly 10?percent of the state’s voting-age population, were prohibited from voting as of 2016 — the highest number and percentage in the United States, according to the Sentencing Project. Among that cohort were a half-million African Americans, 20?percent of the state’s voting-age blacks.
Nearly 65 percent of Florida voters opted to undo those injustices, a lopsided majority in an electorate often closely divided. Undeterred, Republicans in Tallahassee led by Gov. Ron DeSantis enacted a bill last year that neutered the referendum’s outcome by barring any ex-convict from voting until their court costs and fees are paid.
According to expert testimony, more than 80?percent of Floridians who have completed their felony sentences still owe money — over $1 billion statewide. In many cases, though, it is virtually impossible for those individuals to find a definitive accounting of their debts. No state agency has a complete record, and some former felons who try to ascertain and pay what they owe descend into a rabbit hole of bureaucratic dysfunction and spotty record-keeping that varies wildly from county to county — “a mess,” in the words of U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle, who is overseeing the lawsuit.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-are-florida-republicans-trying-to-keep-14-million-citizens-from-voting/2020/04/28/50634a58-88ad-11ea-9dfd-990f9dcc71fc_story.html
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