Ex-felons face new twist in voting (Jeb Bush)

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Fri, Jul. 23, 2004

THE VOTE


Ex-felons face new twist in voting

Gov. Jeb Bush has decided to eliminate paper applications for felons seeking to recover their civil rights, and attorneys assert that the move will thwart thousands of potential voters.

BY DEBBIE CENZIPER AND JASON GROTTO
[e-mail]


Days after a Florida appeals court demanded that the state provide more help to felons who want their right to vote restored, Gov. Jeb Bush introduced a new policy that civil rights advocates say circumvents the will of the court and threatens to exclude tens of thousands of potential voters.

Last week, the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee unanimously ruled that state prison officials must follow the law and provide newly released felons the necessary paperwork and assistance to get their full civil rights back.That would include a one-page application for a formal hearing before the Florida Clemency Board -- the only way an estimated 85 percent of felons will ever get their rights restored.

But instead of providing the application, Bush decided to scrap it altogether. On Wednesday, he announced that felons will now have to contact the Office of Executive Clemency when and if they want to apply for a hearing to have their rights restored.

Bush argues that the policy reduces paperwork and, therefore, provides the ease and assistance demanded by the court.Civil rights advocates say the decision will disfranchise thousands of people in a state where more than 400,000 are already banned from voting.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/9220185.htm?ERIGHTS=783632113769548813miami:&KRD_RM=3mkmlmmlnkjppmjjjjjjjjjsko|
(On edit: Free registration required)

[truthisfreedom]

1. which makes jeb bush the felon.

can't he see that it won't help? his stupid 27 electoral votes won't do diddly to recover the ones bush needs to win.

bush has already lost.

[napi21]

17. Why isn't there some Fla. Attorney going back to court?

This sounds like the same thing as the Judge in Alabama who disregarded a court order. I'm sure there are attorneys in Fl. who would be willing to promote their own name and chalenge this action. Where are they?

There's not very much time to get this handled.

If no attorney speaks out, can the Dems in Fla. help people to jump through the hoops? I know, they shouldn't have to do that, but if that's the only alternative, we need to do it.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Felon-voter list gets a second inquiry

Posted on Fri, Jul. 23, 2004


Felon-voter list gets a second inquiry

BY DAVID KIDWELL
[e-mail]


TALLAHASSEE - Secretary of State Glenda Hood on Thursday opened a second internal investigation into flaws that prompted her to pull back a database that local election chiefs had been given to clean the rolls of felons who were ineligible to vote.

Hood asked her inspector general, Kirby Mole, to take a broad look at the creation of the state's Central Voter Database and investigate how it was built since its 2001 inception.

On July 15, Hood ordered a limited audit into how the potential felon matches were generated and whether they complied with a 2002 lawsuit settlement with the NAACP. One glaring mistake, elections officials say, was a database error that kept thousands of Hispanics -- who tend to vote Republican -- off the list of potentially ineligible voters.

Also, the division of elections left on the list many other convicted felons who had their voting rights restored, ordering local supervisors to make them re-register to vote. Many of those were Democrats.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/9220192.htm?ERIGHTS=-7946124649094447818miami:&KRD_RM=3mkmlmmlnkjppmjjjjjjjjjsko|

[deacon]

3. He tampers with votes--he needs jail time n/t

[HysteryDiagnosis]

4. He tampers with votes--he needs jail time n/t

If only that were all he has tampered with.

[cosmicdot]

5. try this link

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/9220185.htm?1c

[catmandu57]

6. If ever the constitution needed ammending

restoration of civil rights is the issue not some hokey freedom of marriage or flag burning bullshit.

[flordehinojos]

7. THE BUSH'S ARE DESPERATELY WORKING TO PREVENT A KERRY WIN

Just like they did in 2000. This time Jeb's dictator-hand and power-and-control psychology happens to be more in evidence. This time he doesn't mind getting caught with his pants down. This time he is just gonna look for a different pooping place.

These Bushes all are really a bad thing for our Constitution, for our Democracy, for the world, for our right to vote, for our right to think and decide away from the "group think" mentality of the Bushes. They just simply are all a sorry bunch of evil doers.

We really need a Perseus who can manage to depose them despite their many evil tricks to keep holding on to the White House.

:think:

[cap]

8. can the ex-felons show up and vote but

have their ballots set aside until they are vetted?

[Mokito]

10. Even if they could,

I can't see how that would help in any way. The 'vetting' procedure would be so (intentionally) long drawn, that by the time their vote could be counted it wouldn't matter anymore.

[0007]

9. I'll say one thing about these rotten fuckers -

They never give up at producing hoops to jumps through.

[librechik]

11. Does this include all the people who are on the list by mistake?

The real criminals are in the governor's office.

[Massacure]

12. Can someone take this up with the supreme court?

[aden_nak]

13. Would that be the Supreme Court that installed Bush in the first place?

Can you say 5-4 decision in favor of Bush?

[soup]

14. oh, for crying out loud.

Why does the sheer arrogance of governor sonofabush continue to surprise me? You'd think I'd just expect it by now.

Here's a few more links. For what it's worth, at least it's getting coverage.

---

Gov. Jeb Bush shows judges he gets his way

By Nancy Cook Lauer

CAPITOL CORNER

Gov. Jeb Bush has come up with a novel way to deal with last week's court ruling requiring the state to give inmates a specific form so they can apply to have their civil rights restored.

He eliminated the form.

There. Now won't that show those rascally 1st District Court of Appeal judges just who's in charge?

"It's an obvious attempt by the governor to thumb his nose at the ruling," cried Randy Berg, the attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union who successfully argued the case on the felons' behalf.
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/columnists/capitol_watch/9221303.htm

---

Bush dumps request form for clemency

After a court says the state must help felons fill out the form to have their rights restored, the governor decides it's not needed.
By TAMARA LUSH, Times Staff Writer
Published July 23, 2004

>snip<
The new policy allows felons to call, write or e-mail the clemency office to check their status.

It is unclear whether the clemency office will provide a toll-free number or additional staff to handle the added calls.

On Tuesday, a reporter who called the clemency office was routed to voice mail.

"Mailbox for clemency office is full," the message said. "Please try again later. Goodbye."
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/07/23/State/Bush_dumps_request_fo.shtml

---

Friday, July 23, 2004

Story last updated at 05:15 a.m. on Friday, July 23, 2004

Bush eliminates form prisoners used to start applying for rights

The Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - One week after a court ordered Florida officials to help felons to fill out an application that could start the process of restoring their voting rights as they exit the prison system, Gov. Jeb Bush eliminated the form.

The names of felons being released from prison or probation will be forwarded electronically to the Office of Executive Clemency, which will determine which felons qualify to have their rights automatically restored, said Jacob DiPietre, a spokesman for the governor.

The office will send out letters to tell individuals whether they need to apply to regain their right to vote, DiPietre said. Felons whose rights are not restored must submit an application for a restoration hearing before the Clemency Board, which is comprised of Bush and the Florida Cabinet, if they wish to vote again.
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/apnews/stories/072304/D840DB0G2.shtml

---

How in hell did this devious arrogant s.o.b. get re-elected?

---
edit to add link to last article.

[FlaGranny]

15. How do you think he got re-elected?

Same way he got his brother elected in 2000 - same old corruption.

[yellowcanine]

16. If the guv really wanted to follow the court order he would issue an

executive order automatically restoring the voting rights of all felons that have served their sentences - and then send each one of them a notice that their rights are restored and inviting them to register to vote. Yeah he might be challenged legally but he could always point to the court order and say that he had to do this to implement the court order.

[VolcanoJen]

18. Kick!

:dem:

[sofa king]

19. Some votes count more than others, I guess.

And in Jeb's book, felons' votes count for shit.