The rights of felons to vote have become a hot topic in the 2016 election. We recently wrote about the efforts of Virginia’s Governor, and long-time Clinton confidant, Terry McAuliffe, to restore voting rights to 200,000 ex-felons (see “FelonsVotesMatter (To Hillary) – Clinton’s Election Fate In Virginia Lies With 200,000 Unregistered Offenders“). As we pointed out, 200,000 is over 5% of the 3.8mm Virginians who voted in the Presidential race in 2012 and is larger than Obama’s margin of victory over Mitt Romney of 149,298. But we certainly don’t mean to imply that McAuliffe’s efforts were in any way motivated by a desire to help Clinton win the state of Virginia in November…we’re sure this problem is just an issue that has tugged at McAuliffe’s heart for a long time. But we digress.
Another state that denies convicted felons the right to vote is the key swing state of Florida. As Reuters points out, felons in the state of Florida have been “disenfranchised” in since 1868 and a newly elected republican governor, Rick Scott, took steps in 2011 that made it even harder to restore felons’ voting rights.
Felons have been disenfranchised in Florida since 1868, although they can seek clemency to restore their voting rights.
Since 2011, however, when Republican state leaders toughened the restrictions on felon voting rights, just 2,339 ex-felons have had that right restored, the lowest annual numbers in nearly two decades, according to state data reviewed by Reuters.
That compares with more than 155,000 in the prior four years under reforms introduced by Governor Rick Scott’s predecessor, moderate Republican governor Charlie Crist, the data shows. Crist, who was governor from 2007 to 2011, made it much easier to restore ex-felons’ voting rights.
“When I tried to be an effective member of the community, I saw that I was voiceless,” said Newton, whose expectations of getting his rights restored were dashed when the rules changed under a new administration. “I’m 45, and I have never voted.”
Florida is the largest of four remaining states that strip all former felons of voting rights, accounting for nearly half of those barred from voting nationally. Along with Virginia, the others are Kentucky and Iowa.
Of course, according to Reuters, efforts to restrict felons from voting is just another effort of racist “millionaire” republicans to “disenfranchise” minority voters. Per data from the Sentencing Project, one in five voting-age black voters has a felony record compared to only 8.6% of non-black potential voters…a statistic that democrats argues confirms that republican efforts are racially motivated.
In March 2011, two months after he became governor, Scott reversed Crist’s reforms, which had allowed many non-violent felons to automatically get their voting rights reinstated after they had completed their sentences. Crist had also simplified the process for felons convicted of more serious crimes to regain their votes.
Scott, a millionaire former health care executive, put in place new restrictions, requiring ex-felons to wait for five to seven years before applying to regain the right to vote, serve on a jury or hold elected office. He said the new rules ensured ex-felons had proven they were unlikely to offend.
Florida has disenfranchised about one in five voting-age black voters, according to research collected by the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based advocacy group.
That compares with about 8.6 percent of the state’s non-black potential voters. Data on the Hispanic voting-age population who can’t vote because of the law was unavailable, although Hispanics make up 12.5 percent of Florida’s inmates.
Meanwhile, republicans argue that the execution of justice has nothing to do with race with Governor Scott’s office saying that felons have an obligation to demonstrate to society a genuine interest in living a “life free of crime” before their voting rights should be reinstated.
“For those who may suggest that these rule changes have anything to do with race, these assertions are completely unfounded. Justice has nothing to do with race,” Bondi wrote in a 2011 newspaper editorial.
Scott’s office, in a statement to Reuters, said former felons need to “demonstrate that they can live a life free of crime, show a willingness to request to have their rights restored and show restitution to the victims of their crimes” in order to have their voting rights restored.
As the state with the largest population of non-voting felons, something tells us this battle in Florida is just getting started.
via http://ift.tt/2eDIFLz Tyler Durden