Did the state government limit the impact of Florida's 2018 ballot initiative restoring voting rights to felons?
Florida voters in 2018 approved restoration of voting rights to all felons, except those convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense, upon completion of their prison sentences. Legislators the following year then passed a law requiring that before registering to vote, felons had to pay all fines, fees, and costs related to their convictions.
Backers of the 2018 vote lost their challenge to the law in a 6-4 ruling issued on Sept. 11 by a U.S. Appeals Court. The Supreme Court had previously declined to intervene in their case. The decision leaves hundreds of thousands of people who can't establish what they owe, or can't afford the amounts due, unable to vote, limiting the impact of a measure originally intended to add up to 1.4 million to the ranks of the state's eligible voters. Nearly 14 million people were registered to vote in the state as of July.
