Florida conservatives were horrified last November when Amendment 4 passed, restoring voting rights to more than a million state felons not convicted of murder or felony sexual offenses.
Now what? we all wondered. Will Democrats manage to steal Florida next November using ex-cons' votes? Ron DeSantis (R), elected governor last November, has answered: "Not so fast."
On Friday, 28 June, DeSantis signed Senate Bill 7066, which will take effect 1 July. Here is a summary of the bill, available on the Senate website:
- Modifies the voting application to require a person to make an affirmative statement that he or she has been convicted of a felony and if so, has obtained his or her right to vote pursuant to executive clemency or Art. VI, s. 4, of the State Constitution.
- Defines which offenses constitute "murder" and "felony sexual offenses" under the new constitutional provision.
- Provides that voting rights are restored upon "completion of all terms of sentence", meaning completion of any portion of a sentence within the four corners of the sentencing document:
o Nonmonetary (imprisonment, probation/community control, monitored supervision [including parole], any other term); and,o Monetary (victim's restitution, court-ordered fines/fees, any other term).
- Specifies that restitution, fines, and fees ordered by the court do not include any fines, fees, or costs accrued after the date of the sentence.
- Specifies that restitution, fines, and fees be completed in the following manner or in any combination thereof: actual payment; upon the payee's approval, the termination of such financial obligation by the court; or completion of all community service hours, if the court, unless otherwise prohibited by law, converts the financial obligation to community service.
- Authorizes the court to make certain modifications of the financial obligations to provide relief, provided such modifications do not infringe on a defendant's or victim's constitutional rights, but clarifies that this provision does not apply to the conversion of financial obligations to civil liens.
- Provides in s. 98.0751, F.S., that the Department of State (DOS) makes the initial determination on whether the information is credible and reliable regarding whether a person is eligible to vote under Art. VI, s. 4, of the State Constitution, and forwards such to the supervisor of elections.
- Provides in s. 98.0751, F.S., that the supervisor of elections (supervisor) verifies and makes the final determination whether a person who registers to vote is eligible under Art. VI, s. 4, of the State Constitution. The supervisor may request additional assistance from the DOS in making the final determination.
- Grants registrants immunity from prosecution for submitting false voter registration information regarding their eligibility following a felony conviction on registration applications submitted from January 8, 2019 (effective date of Amendment 4) until before July 1, 2019 (effective date of the bill).
- Mandates that the state and county notify convicted felons of the outstanding terms of their sentence with respect to voting eligibility, upon release from custody/supervision.
Note specifically this provision, which speaks volumes for the rule of law that other states should follow:
- Provides that voting rights are restored upon "completion of all terms of sentence", meaning completion of any portion of a sentence within the four corners of the sentencing document:
o Monetary (victim's restitution, court-ordered fines/fees, any other term).
Predictably, the ACLU, the NAACP, and other liberal groups have already filed afederal lawsuit challenging S.B. 7066. Julie Ebenstein, senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, said in a statement:
Over a million Floridians were supposed to reclaim their place in the democratic process, but some politicians clearly feel threatened by greater voter participation. They cannot legally affix a price tag to someone's right to vote.
Hey Julie, can you spell "spin"?
The law states the obvious. Of course all terms of a sentence must be completed. Of course there must be monetary restitution to victims if that is specified in sentencing documents. Of course court-ordered fines and fees must be paid. Try not obeying sentencing terms in traffic court and see what happens.
The "action-reaction" principle says Democrats are likely to create some sort of GoFundMe mechanism to collect money that ex-cons can use to pay their debts. Florida election officials should be paying close attention to this and other potential shenanigans.
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