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Florida Republicans Are Sabotaging a Constitutional Amendment That Gave Former Felons the Right to Vote
Florida Republicans are cruising quickly in a devilish attempt to sabotage Amendment 4, a ballot initiative that restored voting rights to about 1.4 million former felons. The GOP is now pushing through a bill that would disenfranchise roughly 1.1 million of them.
In November, a supermajority of Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment restoring voting rights to former felons who’ve completed their sentences.
The Senate Judiciary Committee cleared the measure Monday [April 8, 2019]. Like its House counterpart, the bill requires not only that eligible felons complete their prison sentences but also that they satisfy all fines, fees and victim restitution. Opponents say those conditions were not contemplated in the amendment approved last November by voters, are unnecessary and some have likened them to a form of poll tax. They contend the felon voting rights amendment took immediate effect in January with no additional legislation needed.
Yes, that's right: Florida Republicans are advancing what’s effectively a poll tax that many citizens who have completed their felony sentences will never be able to repay, which could disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of potential voters
That measure, which GOP lawmakers voted out of committee along party lines, is a direct assault on Amendment 4, which altered the state constitution to reinstate felons’ right to vote. It is an astonishing rejection of Floridians’ overwhelming support for the amendment and a flagrant power-grab designed to suppress potential Democratic votes.
And because the Florida Legislature, governorship, and Supreme Court are dominated by Republicans, the bill stands an excellent chance of becoming law, reversing the biggest voting rights victory of the 21stcentury so far.
Florida imposes a mind-boggling array of fines and fees on criminal defendants. The GOP bill would prevent former felons from voting until they've paid all these debts. But few ever do—so the bill is a recipe for permanent disenfranchisement. This is Florida's "cash-register justice" in action.
The amendment unambiguously declares that “voting rights shall be restored upon completion of all terms of sentence including parole or probation.”
But the new bill adds a new hurdle: Felons may not register to vote until they’ve paid all court costs, fines, and fees associated with their sentences.
Courts don't even expect the vast majority of felons to pay their fines and fees. They know defendants can't afford it. By tying voting rights to these debts, Republicans are ensuring that most former felons will never actually regain their right to vote.
In Miami-Dade County, there are more than $278 million in outstanding court fines; that number is $195.8 million in Palm Beach County, which charges interest on court debt. Florida law permits private debt collectors to recover this money from defendants—and secure a commission of 25 to 40 percent of the fine. These collection agencies spend large sums of money lobbying the Legislature to maintain the current system and keep former felons permanently indebted.
You may be thinking, "of course this will get tossed in court, it obviously violates the 24th Amendment's ban on poll taxes." However, several states have similar requirements that people who already served their time must pay court fines & fees to vote.
Florida Democrats have condemned the GOP measure as an unconstitutional poll tax, which is descriptively accurate. But there’s little hope that the federal courts will strike it down, since the U.S. Supreme Court has tolerated other measures that impose heavy burdens and costs on voters.
The most straightforward challenge would arise under Amendment 4 itself, since lawmakers are violating its plain text by denying voting rights to felons who’ve completed their sentence. But Desantis appointed three justices to the Florida Supreme Court during his first weeks in office, creating a 6–1 conservative majority...
What’s happening in Florida right now may be appalling, but it is not surprising. Time and time again, Republicans have suppressed votes to depress turnout among Democrats. They obviously fear that former felons, who are disproportionately racial minorities, will swing left.
Take, for instance, Alabama which has been doing this for decades:
Alabama’s felon disenfranchisement policies are probably unconstitutional, and they have disparate impacts on felons who are poor, black, or both, according to experts.
In 1964, the 24th amendment abolished the poll tax, but to this day in Alabama, money keeps thousands of people away from the ballot box.... there are 286,266 disenfranchised felons in Alabama, or 7.62% of the state’s voting-age population. More than half of those disenfranchised felons are black, despite the fact that African Americans made up only 26.8% of the state’s population
“The right to vote should never be tied to the level of one’s debt. It’s a moral issue and if you want people to come back and transition back into society, one of the fundamental tenets of society is the right to be able to vote.”
Sources:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/03/florida-republicans-felon-voting-rights-amendment-4.html
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/04/alabama-voting-poll-tax