Fla. Ballot Could Open 1.4 Million Felons to 2020 Election

A Florida ballot amendment in November could restore voting rights to an estimated 1.4 million released felons — including at least 180,000 Hispanics — possibly altering the political balance in the nation’s largest swing state, Univision reported.

“There is no other issue on the ballot in November that matters more,” according to Dave Lawrence, formerly the publisher of the Miami Herald and a child advocate, Univision’s David Adams reported. “Surely, we are a better people than this.”

Under existing law, felons have to wait up to seven years after they’ve served their time before they can apply to the governor for clemency.

But on Nov. 6, voters will be able to vote to approve Amendment Four, which would automatically allow released felons who have completed probation to vote, except for murderers and sex offenders, Adams noted.

The amendment needs the support of 60 percent of voters to pass; recent polls have shown support topping 70 percent, Adams reported.

Florida’s constitution has one of the most restrictive voting bans in the nation — a vestige from its post-Civil War constitution, drafted in 1865, which prohibited blacks and felons from voting, Adams reported. 

It was revised in 1868 to allow all males to vote, but the ban on felons was kept in place. 

Due to a high incarceration rate for blacks, 21 percent of the state’s voting-age African-Americans cannot vote, Adams reported. It is estimated that the ban also affects more than 10 percent of eligible Hispanic voters, he added.

The change has its opponents, including the non-profit organization Floridians For A Sensible Voting Rights Policy, which argues “the value of every legal vote is diluted and diminished by every illegal vote cast by felons, non-citizens, dead people, imposters, identity thieves, and people voting more than once.’’

Ashley Moody, the GOP candidate for state Attorney General, also opposes it, Adams reported, though she’s said she’s will to consider "a less cumbersome procedure."

The amendment could have a profound effete in Florida, where elections are often won by small margins, Adams reported.

And according to a 2016 analysis, 59 percent of Floridians with felony convictions who had their voting rights restored were registered as Democrats, 18 percent registered as Republicans and 23 percent as independent or third party.

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