Judge will rule part of Florida felon voting law unconstitutional [View all]
Source: Politico
A federal judge signaled that he would find part of a Florida law restricting the voting rights of former felons unconstitutional as a high-stakes trial in the presidential battleground state wrapped up Wednesday.
The outcome of the litigation could clear the way for hundreds of thousands of people with felony convictions to vote in a state where elections are won and lost by razor-thin margins. It’s also likely that the legal battle could go to the U.S. Supreme Court before it’s finally resolved.
A law passed in 2019 by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature requires people who have been convicted of a felony to pay outstanding court debts in order be eligible to vote. GOP legislators passed the bill after voters in 2018 overwhelmingly approved Amendment 4, a constitutional amendment that aimed to end the state’s lifetime ban on voting for most people with felony convictions.
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle made clear that he would rule that Florida could not impose the restriction on anyone unable to pay their outstanding debts. The decision lines up with a preliminary ruling from Hinkle that later was upheld by a federal appeals court.
“The Legislature plainly intended that you had to pay the money in order to vote, and if you didn’t pay the money you didn’t vote,” Hinkle sa
Read more: https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2020/05/06/judge-will-rule-part-of-florida-felon-voting-law-unconstitutional-1282708
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