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A court in Florida has ruled that ex-felons must pay off any outstanding fines and fees before registering to vote. This is an important ruling in the swing state just weeks before the November election.
It used to be that people with felonies had to petition the Governor for their right to vote. Floridians voted to end this in 2018 and allow them the right to vote. When thousands of ex-felons began to register in 2019, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law requiring them to pay fines and fees first. The Governor’s law was upheld in court on Friday. The groups that challenged it are considering a Supreme Court appeal.
The judge’s opinion stated that “felons do not have a fundamental right to vote.”
But they do have the right to pay for that?
This will almost certainly ensure that certain lower-income groups of people will not vote because they cannot afford it. In Florida, at least. This is most certainly not the law in all states.
