Federal Court Tosses Florida's Poll Tax; Formerly Incarcerated People Can Vote in 2020

Federal Court Tosses Florida’s Poll Tax; Formerly Incarcerated People Can Vote in 2020

by Colin Kalmbacher at Law and Crime | 2:32 pm, March 31st, 2020

https://lawandcrime.com/2020-election/federal-court-tosses-floridas-poll-tax-formerly-incarcerated-people-can-vote-in-2020/

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A federal court struck down a Florida law which denied individuals with prior felony convictions the right to vote if they could not afford to pay certain fees and fines. Tuesday’s decision may ultimately restore the right to vote for some 1.4 million Floridians who would have otherwise been eligible to vote but for the law making that right contingent upon their ability to pay off outstanding fines, fees and restitution.

That law, SB 7066, is now enjoined and cannot take effect for the 17 named plaintiffs in the lawsuit; though voting rights advocates hope the ruling will be interpreted to take effect across Florida. The impetus is now on authorities there to craft their response in line with the court’s opinion.

“That ruling sent a clear message: You can’t condition the right to vote on a person’s wealth,” Sean Morales-Doyle, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law explained in a statement, “It’s been almost six months since the court warned Florida it was violating the Constitution, and the state has done nothing to fix the problem. We hope that with this decision, they will turn their attention towards a solution.”

The state defendants seeking to enforce SB 7066 only have recourse to the Supreme Court–which is unlikely to take up their case during the present term; meaning that the ruling probably won’t be overturned or even considered before the 2020 general election.

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