Florida House passes bill allowing ex-felon voting rights

[Judi Lynn]

5. Florida House Approves Requiring People To Repay Criminal Fines, Fees Before They Can Vote

04/24/2019 11:07 pm ET Updated 0 minutes ago
Florida House Approves Requiring People To Repay Criminal Fines, Fees Before They Can Vote
Critics say the legislation amounts to a poll tax and violates a constitutional amendment that voters overwhelmingly approved in November to allow people with felonies to vote.

By Sam Levine

The Florida House approved a controversial measure Wednesday requiring people with felony convictions to repay all of the financial obligations ordered as part of their sentence before they can vote again.

The legislation comes after Florida voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in November to repeal the state’s lifetime voting ban for people with felony convictions. Now, people with felonies can vote once they have entirely completed their sentence, including probation and parole. The constitutional amendment only exempts people convicted of murder and felony sexual offenses from having their voting rights restored. Its passage was heralded as an enormous step forward for Florida and could affect up to 1.4 million people.

The groups who backed the constitutional amendment strongly opposed the measure the Florida House approved 71-45 along party lines Wednesday. Many people in the criminal justice system accumulate huge fines and fees and requiring people to repay those debts before they can vote will effectively continue to disenfranchise people with felony convictions. The Florida House bill would require people to repay any restitution, as well as fines and fees ordered by a judge ― even if those obligations are converted to a civil lien ― before they can vote again. The bill does not require people to repay fines and fees they accrue beyond the judge’s sentence in order to vote.

Supporters of November’s amendment that repealed felony voting prohibitions say it is acceptable to require people to pay restitution ordered by a judge or fines and fees that are part of one’s sentence. But they say the amendment does not allow the state to require fines and fees on top of that before they can vote. They also say that people whose legal financial obligations are converted to liens because they can’t pay them should be able to vote.

More:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/florida-felon-disenfranchisement-poll-tax_n_5cc1106ae4b01b6b3efc6ebe