Florida voters will be able to restore voting rights to over a million former felons in November

[RandySF]

Florida voters will have a chance to restore voting rights to more than 1 million former felons through a ballot initiative this November.

The proposed constitutional amendment on Tuesday reached the 766,200 petition signatures required to go on the ballot. The Voting Restoration Amendment, which the state is expected to certify soon, would automatically restore rights to citizens convicted of most non-violent crimes who have completed their prison sentence, parole, and probation. Only those convicted of murder or felony sexual offense would be excluded.

If approved with 60 percent of the vote in November, the amendment has the potential to reshape electoral politics in Florida, a critical swing state, and set the example for other states grappling with whether to relax strict laws prohibiting people with criminal convictions from voting. Florida currently has one of the strictest felon disenfranchisement laws in the country — only Florida, Kentucky, Virginia, and Iowa permanently bar those with felony convictions from voting for life, unless they seek clemency. In total, roughly 1.6 million Florida citizens — about one in four African Americans — are barred from casting a ballot.

Sheena Meade, organizing director for the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition which led the initiative to gather more than a million signatures, told ThinkProgress that getting the amendment certified is a “huge accomplishment for the people of Florida.”


https://thinkprogress.org/florida-ballot-voting-8b8decc2c7dd/

[bearsfootball516]

1. This, along with the increase of citizens from Puerto Rico, could swing Florida blue for a long time

[RandySF]

4. I never like to assume that all felons are Democrats

[SFnomad]

8. I agree with that ... but "about one in four African Americans" are denied the ability to vote

And when 33% more AAs will now have the ability to vote, you can expect that the vast majority of those new potential voters will be Democratic.

[Scarsdale]

12. So they should be allowed to vote.

They are still citizens, with RIGHTS. Having served their time, they should get their rights reinstated. That right never should have been taken away.

[SpankMe]

17. Nonviolent felons trend blue. Violent ones trend red.

The guy they just arrested for providing food water and clothing to Mexican immigrants is liberal.

Timothy McVeigh was conservative.

[unblock]

2. great start, though imho doesn't go far enough.

government should not be able to pick and choose its voters.

period.

[The Blue Flower]

3. Congratulations and thanks to all who spearheaded this effort

Now we have to GOTV.

[packman]

5. Sorry, I see this as an issue Repukes are going to hang their hats on

Florida, with its elderly population, its conservative bent, and its strong Repuke base (especially in the Pandhandle) is going to latch onto this and play it for all it's worth to energize its base. I can see the Willy Horton and scare ads now.

[zipplewrath]

7. Hard to say

We've passed some fairly "liberal" amendments lately. (Our constitution protects pigs, really). And this amendment will resonate with several constituencies here in Florida. It's received fairly favorable press in the state (which has limited agency I understand). I suspect it will hang on the GOTV work more than anything else.

[Blue_true]

16. I live in Florida. You should really study this state.

Yes, Rick Scott got elected Governor, but he ran as a relative moderate the first time around. The state is a purple state for good reason. The South of the state is progressive, as is the Tampa-Orlando corridor. My part of the state, North-central leans red, but not by as much as it used to. Jacksonville is blue as is Leon County where Tallahassee is located. The western panhandle is red, but not as red as it used to be.

On a social note, I have travelled some. While the South, including parts of Florida has racists, relationships between people of different races have improved dramatically, in particular where I live.

[packman]

18. Hey, fellow Floridian- Panhandle dweller here

Perhaps it is because I am in deep Trump country here, a bit east of Pensacola- I view this area as red as red can get. I too have traveled on the highways and byways and see America becoming more and more splintered into racial, economic and geographical areas- which saddens me on many levels. Such a country is ripe for the plucking and we need person or group to unite us to step out on the political stage.

[Jim Lane]

19. Will people scare THAT easily?

This measure doesn't spring any felons from prison. What's the fear, that they'll go vote and then say, "Hey, as long as I'm in the car, I might as well knock over a 7-11"?

IIRC there are some date suggesting that restoration of voting rights helps the process of reintegration into society and therefore reduces the recidivism rate. I hope the supporters in Florida can figure out a way to frame that message without using big words like "recidivism".

[Renew Deal]

6. Probably the right thing to do, but I have to wonder if it will pass

Especially at 60%

[winstars]

9. WTF? 60% will NOT happen Why is it not 50.1% like everything else?

[bluevoter4life]

14. It used to be

Voters approved the 60% threshold 15ish years ago if I recall correctly. Twist of irony: that ballot measure passed with less than 60% of the vote.

[BobTheSubgenius]

10. The path to clemency is extraordinarily difficult.

I wish I could remember the details, but I remember it being a long shot, and the decision-making process struck me as being quite arbitrary.

The result is that the large majority remain disenfranchised for life, because the process is a one-shot deal, rather like an appeal.

[obamanut2012]

11. I wa sone of those who signed the petition!

[Blue_true]

13. I am one of the signatures that got counted.

I plan to vote for the change in November. As a society, if we are going to call prison time reformation, we should restore rights to people that do their time and come back to society and obey laws.

[Puzzledtraveller]

15. Of all ppl Rand Paul tried to do this in Ky

and I was behind it

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/19/politics/rand-paul-felon-voting/index.html

[GulfCoast66]

20. I signed. And it has a real shot at passing

Hopefully there will be money to run some ads playing to the whole redemption of the sinner. Southerners love that Shit.