Amendment 4

The federal lawsuit says state leaders have failed to carry out a constitutional amendment designed to restore voting rights to felons who complete their sentences.

Tony Patterson was one of 20 people accused by Governor Ron DeSantis in a high-profile news conference in August of voting illegally. As someone convicted of a felony sexual offense, Patterson was not allowed to vote under state law. But in a new court filing, prosecutors wrote that they were dropping charges against him.

Governor Ron DeSantis made a spectacle of arresting voters with felony convictions. Now, some eligible voters are opting out of midterms even beyond Florida.

A week after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the arrests of 20 people for alleged voter fraud, his administration quietly made a change that some say could help the state go after more people. Starting in August, Floridians on probation have been required to sign an updated form placing the burden on them to determine if they’re eligible to vote.

The felons were previously charged with murder or sexual assault, according to the governor. As such, Amendment Four does not apply to them and they are not allowed to vote under Florida law, he explained at a press conference in Broward.

The Nicklaus Children’s Hospital Foundation is now accepting cryptocurrency donations. The artists behind the giant menorah and dreidel on Miami Beach. Plus, did this Republican congressional candidate cast an illegal vote?

After weeks of asking, neither the Florida Department of State nor the Florida Department of Corrections was able to deny or confirm if Republican congressional candidate Jason Mariner cast a legal ballot or not.

A Florida Bar task force has presented proposals on how to make condo living better and safer after Surfside. We meet the man who was central to helping Florida felons get their voting rights back. And a dramedy film about a Cuban-American woman packing for a family trip to Havana.

Desmond Meade was recently named as a MacArthur Foundation fellow for 2021 — commonly known as a “genius" grant. WLRN spoke to him about that honor and his activism in passing Amendment 4 in 2018.

Accompanied by his wife and a daughter Wednesday, Meade told DeSantis, Patronis and the other members of the state Board of Executive Clemency, Attorney General Ashley Moody and Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, that he has “emerged from a very dark place” to become “a beacon of hope and inspiration to so many people.”

"We have estimated that at least 1,250 people will be able to vote this year because of the contribution that we’re making."

The ruling overturns a lower court decision.