Ballot Measure to Restore Voting Rights for Felons will be on November Ballot (FL)

[RockaFowler]

One of the best things I've heard in a very long time. As someone who has waited and waited for many years for my husband to finally get his rights restored, this is a long time coming. Florida is one of a handful of states that punishes people years after they have served their sentences.


https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/01/florida-will-vote-on-restoring-voting-rights-to-1-5-million-ex-felons/

Across the United States, 6.1 million ex-felons can’t vote. More than a quarter of them live in Florida, including 1 in 5 otherwise eligible African American voters in the state. “Florida disenfranchises more of its citizens than Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee combined,” the Brennan Center for Justice reports.

But this November, there will be a constitutional amendment on the ballot to overturn the state’s felon disenfranchisement law. Organizers with the voting rights group Floridians for a Fair Democracy announced on Tuesday that they had gathered the 766,200 signatures required to put the “Second Chances Voting Restoration Amendment” on the ballot. It would automatically restore the right to vote to ex-felons who have completed their sentences, except those convicted of murder or sexual assault. Sixty percent of voters will have to approve the amendment for it to pass. The ACLU has pledged to put $5 million behind the effort.

[Gothmog]

1. This is major news and is a great development

[genxlib]

2. This is great

And I am strongly supporting it.

However I have my doubts that it will pass. If I understand correctly it will take 60% to pass. That won’t be easy.

What’s more, I don’t trust the state legislature to actually implement it. They are still fighting the gerrymandering requirement

[winstars]

4. 60%??? Good luck with that Florida Too many racist fucks there...

[genxlib]

5. That was my recollection so I looked it up

https://ballotpedia.org/Laws_governing_the_initiative_process_in_Florida

Supermajority requirements

Florida amendments require a 60 percent supermajority for approval. This requirement was adopted as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in 2006 as the Florida Broader Public Support for Constitutional Amendments or Revisions Amendment.

In addition, no amendment approved from 1994 onward may impose a new tax or fee without being approved by a 2/3 supermajority. A tax or fee is considered new if it was not in effect in 1994.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Florida Constitution, Article XI, Section 5 and Section 7

[winstars]

6. Thanks. Seems like the legislature wanted to keep all the power and NOT let the people speak.

Although I suppose it could protect the people from a slight majority of nuts voting for some cray cray ballot measure...

[genxlib]

9. Bingo

It raises the bar to very difficult levels of support for both of the reasons you cite

[MichMan]

3. 1 in 5 AA have been convicted of a felony??

Last edited Tue Jan 23, 2018, 03:54 PM - Edit history (1)

[Blue_true]

8. Having weed here in Florida is a felony.

People routinely get caught. There is a disparity in charging, clean cut White kids get the weed taken away, the Black kid gets sent into the criminal justice system. Jury duty is still loaded toward property owners, so it is harder to seat diverse juries.

[Gothmog]

10. From former AG Holder

Link to tweet

Link to tweet