Florida’s antiquated system of restoring voting rights to felons is battered but not broken — which means that most felons probably won’t be able to cast ballots in this fall’s elections.
A federal appeals court stepped in at the last minute Wednesday and approved Gov. Rick Scott’s request to block a lower court’s order to replace the system, a day before Scott and the three elected Cabinet members faced a deadline to enact new rules for restoring felons’ rights.
The action by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta was a victory for Scott and it means the fight for felons’ rights now moves to the court of public opinion and politics.
The first sign of that came Thursday as more than 300 people marched to the Capitol in support of a statewide citizens’ initiative to restore the right to vote to convicted felons in Florida and to destroy a 150-year-old system that permanently disenfranchises them.
The midday march was organized by pastors and preachers in an effort to build support for Amendment 4, which will appear on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. Similar efforts are underway across the state.
Read more at our news partner, the Miami Herald.
