Appeal likely after federal judge rules in favor of felons’ voting rights

A likely appeal of a federal judge’s ruling could halt hundreds of thousands of new voters from being able to register for the upcoming November election.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled Sunday that felons in Florida cannot be restricted from voting if they cannot pay fines and restitution as part of their sentence.

It’s the latest ruling in a legal battle over the state's Amendment 4, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2018 to allow felons who've served all terms of their sentence to regain their right to vote. In 2019, the state’s Republican-controlled legislature passed a bill stipulating that "all terms" included all legal financial obligations.

The 125-page federal ruling also puts the onus on the state to determine exactly how much a felon owes in restitution if it's determined he or she can pay. That information has been nearly impossible for many felons to figure out due to the lack of a statewide database. If that information cannot be produced within 21 days, a felon cannot be kept from registering to vote, the ruling states.

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The judge is right by laws that already exist. Case and point you have a right to representation whether you can afford one or not one will be appointed to you. That is in legal cases. However with that being said that fundamental right to representation cannot be taken away. Nor can the right to choose your representation. No amount of indebtedness can prevent that. Furthermore the right to vote in national elections has not been separated buy local nor the process. So restricting the right to vote in the national election by any means it's unconstitutional. Now if Florida wants to separate local from national elections and have a separate ballot process that would need to be done before restricting.