Florida has the most disenfranchised citizens in the United States, with nearly 1.7 million felons unable to vote.
Across the U.S., more than six million felons have not had their voting rights restored. In 47 states, civil rights, including the right to vote, are automatically restored once the person has served their time, but not in Florida. After the Civil War, Florida’s constitution was rewritten and made it so civil rights were stripped from felons.
In 2007, former Governor Charlie Crist had reformed the process and allowed nonviolent offenders to have their voting rights automatically restored. More than 155,000 felons had their civil rights restored in his four-year term. Crist was succeeded by another Republican Governor, Rick Scott, who currently represents Florida in the Senate. Scott swiftly repealed the 2007 measure to reinstate civil rights to felons and in his first seven years as governor, he allowed only 3,000 reinstations.
Scott made felons wait up to seven years after leaving prison to even be eligible to apply for the right to vote, then were forced to wait again to have their application reviewed, then had to travel to Tallahassee to speak before Scott’s clemency board. Of the board, he said, “There is no law we’re following…there’s no standards. Each of us have the right to make a decision based on what we believe.”
The governor made history by mainly restoring the rights of white, Republican felons while denying black and Democratic felons most of the time. Some of the questions asked by the board included asking felons where they go to church and whether they had gotten a parking ticket before. The clemency board was determined unconstitutional in 2018.
Of the six million felons in the U.S. who were stripped of their rights, only 18% were violent offenders. In 2018, almost two-thirds of Floridians voted in favor of Amendment 4, the Voting Rights for Felons Initiative, a measure which would give voting rights to nonviolent felons. Nearly 1.4 million citizens became eligible to vote, almost 10% of the population that had not had a say in politics for most of Florida’s history.
It was a victory for citizens and activists, who have been fighting for decades for this moment. Before the passing of Amendment 4, more than one in five black Americans in Florida had been stripped of their right to vote, no matter how large or small their infraction.
The amendment was passed, but it did not make it past Republican roadblocks in state government. Last summer, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law that states, “people with felony records pay ‘all fines and fees’ associated with their sentence prior to the restoration of their voting rights.” This bill has been challenged and called unconstitutional by commentators. It harkens back to the days of poll taxes that barred namely African Americans from voting by essentially charging people to vote.
The Federal District Court ruled in October 2019 that the law partially violates the U.S. Constitution and that if a person cannot afford to pay back their court fees, restitution and fines, they cannot be barred from voting. This decision was appealed by DeSantis. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard the same case and came to a similar conclusion. The governor, again, appealed and is awaiting another hearing.
The state is silencing people, especially minorities who tend to vote for Democrats. Florida has had several famously close elections, notably the 2000 election, where President Bush won by only 537 votes. Keeping 1 in 10 people, and a fifth of the black population, from voting keeps the power from the people.
Florida should switch to reinstating civil rights to felons as soon as they are free. Felons have already served their time.
The Florida Rights Restoration Campaign and the American Civil Liberties Union have been fighting for many years and are not going to quit until all felons have their civil rights restored in Florida. Learn more at floridarrc.com and aclufl.org.