Florida Can't Bar Felons From Registering To Vote Over Fees & Fines, Court Rules

Florida cannot bar felons who served their time from registering to vote simply because they have failed to pay all fines and fees stemming from their cases, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Tallahassee federal judge's preliminary injunction that the implementation of Amendment 4 – approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2018 to allow most felons who served their time to regain the right to vote – amounted to an unfair poll tax that would disenfranchise many of them. 

A spokeswoman for Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said the state will immediately ask the entire 11th Circuit to reconsider the ruling. In addition, a full trial on the issue is set to begin this spring.

The GOP-led Legislature and DeSantis last year approved an implementation law for the constitutional amendment stating that only felons who have completed all conditions of their sentences should be allowed to vote. He and GOP lawmakers say that to regain the right to vote, felons must not only serve their prison time but also pay all fines and other legal financial obligations.

That was challenged in federal court by voting rights groups representing 17 plaintiffs seeking to overturn the law

As many as 1.6 million Florida felons who have completed their prison sentences could regain voting privileges under Amendment 4.