In November, voters in Florida passed Amendment 4, a ballot measure allowing most ex-felons to vote. The measure would enfranchise more than a million people.
Now, lawmakers are trying to limit how many of those voters will actually be able to cast ballots based on who can pay court-ordered fines and fees.
Tucked into a bill meant to implement Amendment 4 are definitions of “completion” and “term of sentence” that stipulate that fines and fees must be repaid in full before an individual would be eligible for restored voting rights.
Consider what the practical impact of this might be: After being arrested, you’re found guilty and sentenced. You serve your time and get out. But while you were in prison, fines and fees were adding up. Not only might there be a mandatory fine for the offense, but there also are likely other fees from work release, monitoring, and even probation. Worse, if you can’t start paying those fees when you are released, then the debt collector tacks on a surcharge. In Florida, you can also lose your driver’s license for nonpayment, making it all but impossible to earn money to pay those fines and fees.
By tying voting rights to the payment of such fees and fines, the state might as well have decided not to just toss out the results of the ballot initiative entirely.
Indeed, according to a report published by Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers, in FY 2018, of the more than $250 million assessed in fines and fees for felonies, the collection rate was just over 20 percent. The report shows that most people couldn’t pay because they were either incarcerated or released but indigent — meaning that even the state knows that they are demanding people pay more than they will likely ever be able to afford.
The bill, which seems likely to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk, would mean that those people who have served their time but can’t pay their fines might never get their vote back.
In essence, this is a pay-to-vote scheme, not unlike a poll tax, meant to keep those least able to pay from having a say in their government. It should be unacceptable to people in Florida and across the country.
