A federal judge ruled Sunday that Florida’s pay-to-vote law is unconstitutional when applied to ex-felons who are eligible to vote but genuinely unable to pay.
Historically, under Florida law, convicted felons may be disenfranchised from voting. Recently, however, Amendment 4 was passed to restore the voting rights of felons, except those convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense, “upon completion of all terms of sentence including parole or probation.” In its 2019 session, the Florida Legislature passed SB7066, which defined the completion of a criminal sentence to include a financial obligation and that those obligations must be paid for the person to be eligible to vote.
