Federal Judge Rules Florida Law Unconstitutional

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker ruled on February 1st that Florida’s law barring former felons who have paid their debt to society from voting is unconstitutional.

 “In Florida, elected, partisan officials have extraordinary authority to grant or withhold the right to vote from hundreds of thousands of people without any constraints, guidelines, or standards…The question now is whether such a system passes constitutional muster. It does not.”

Last week, Florida certified that an important constitutional amendment will be placed on the November ballot asking the public to vote on whether or not to restore the voting rights of 1.6 million former felons who have paid their debt to society.

Florida is one of just three states that permanently bans ex-felons from voting unless they receive clemency from the state, which is difficult to obtain.

The judge did not rule on how the issue should be remedied — he will hold hearings on that in mid-February — but he said the voter restoration system must be changed as soon as possible.

The Democrats of Indian River were active in the petition drive to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November.

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