Florida Can’t Block Former Felons From Voting If They Owe Money And Can’t Pay: Judge

“The court held that the right to vote cannot be denied based on a person’s inability to pay fines and fees. This ruling recognizes the gravity of elected officials trying to circumvent Amendment 4 and create voting roadblocks based on wealth,” said Julie Ebenstein, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, who represented some of the plaintiffs.

The law came after Florida voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in November 2018 to repeal the state’s lifetime voting ban for people with felony convictions. Critics said the Florida law, passed in May, was an effort to undermine that change and effectively imposed a poll tax on people who couldn’t pay. 

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle wrote in his ruling that neither the Florida secretary of state nor local election officials could block the plaintiffs in the case from registering to vote “based only on failure to pay a financial obligation that the plaintiff asserts the plaintiff is genuinely unable to pay.”