Back to not voting: 11th Circuit sides with Florida on voting rights.
The voting rights if people in Florida with past felony convictions have been in limbo since the 2018 passage of Amendment 4, that was supposed to restore rights to former felons (other than those with a murder or sex offense conviction) who have completed their sentence.
Governor DeSantis’ administration, however, thought “completed their sentence” should include paying off all fines and fees, which most will never be able to pay. That rendered them ineligible to vote, until a Federal District Court Judge said otherwise. The inability to pay a fee will not render someone ineligible to vote. That victory was short lived, as the 11th Circuit reversed that decision Friday.
The decision is believed to have a substantial impact on the upcoming presidential election.
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What kind of people try to keep people from voting? Any moral politician/human should want everyone to be able to vote, no matter how they will vote. What kind of politician tries to keep people from voting? Someone who should not be elected. Someone who is afraid that he/she isn’t good enough.
This election is important enough that each of these people should borrow the funds somehow, pay the criminal regime, and then vote. I read that Bloomberg plans to dump $100,000,000 into advertising in Florida. That would surely be enough to pay off everyone’s fines. That’s what he should do.
People in Florida must be registered to vote (legally) within 30 days of an election. So, there’s no time to coordinate all that. Bloomberg and his ilk with all their wealth obviously don’t really care about disenfranchised people any more than currently empowered politicians do. If they did, there was more than enough time to coordinate finding all these people and paying their fines and getting certified court records of it as proof for legal voting.
I really don’t think it would be constitutional to say that fines and fees must be paid before a person could vote. If a person has done the time, I would think fines and fees would be no different then paying off your credit card, medical bills and a mortgage. A lot of people are in debt up to their eyeballs and are still allowed to vote. Are they saying these fines and fees are part of a sentence? What about a person that is deemed indigent and is not expected to pay their fines and fees? Just because they have no money, why should they not be allowed to vote after serving their time.? I hope this keeps coming up in the courts. There has to be a fair court out there that see’s the craziness of adding on this rule. I don’t remember amendment 4 having the wording about fines and fee’s. Did I miss that?
This has already been decided by the court. That’s what this case is about.
Read the ruling…it lays it all out in black and white.
“I would think fines and fees would be no different then paying off your credit card, medical bills and a mortgage.”
Since when does anyone obtain a mortgage and then default on it because a judge ordered them to under a final sentence for committing a felony? I think you should read or reread the ruling because it covers exactly what you are asking about.
It’s always about the election. That’s why they try and rig it every which way they can.
How are they rigging it? And who are “they” in your comments?
I read this opinion as soon as it came down just as I did as soon as the lower court ruled prior. Honestly, I think the District Court got it wrong and the 11th Circuit had no choice but to correct it. I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this. But I too am a convicted felon and disenfranchised because of the SO registry. If this prevents me from voting then so too should another felons failure to pay a fine.
Wow! This must be a great voter suppression/revenue enhancement scheme.
If you owe a fine, you can’t vote.
Ok..collect all of the parking tickets, speeding tickets, expired license plate tickets, expired DL tickets, DUI fines etc from the scoff laws that haven’t paid those.
“Ok..collect all of the parking tickets, speeding tickets, expired license plate tickets, expired DL tickets, DUI fines etc from the scoff laws that haven’t paid those.” Sorry to burst your bubble but none of those have anything to do with what this case decided…based on felony convictions that included fines in a final sentence for the felony convictions.
They should be afraid of their jobs, with the millions of victims of this list, the population grows, and eventually will vote them out of office.
“They should be afraid of their jobs, with the millions of victims of this list, the population grows, and eventually will vote them out of office.” Question for you t & s: How will they be voted out of office if people are prohibited from voting because the supposed voters haven’t fully satisfied their sentences from felony convictions?
They will be eventually voted out by a growing number of registered voters who are absolutely fed up with what is happening. I am saying this as a registered Republican: I recently read of a Republican Florida legislator who was defending the party as one that wanted reforms. He was very much on the defensive. I know that the Republican leaders in this state must be really feeling the heat by now.
The Gainesville paper is lamblasting our governor and legislature over this.