Florida Appeals Court Tosses Out Florida "Poll Tax"
Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2020 4:28 pm
Technically, the trial court held the law unconstitutional and a panel of the 11th Circuit upheld it. In 2018, Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment restoring felons' rights to vote upon being released from prison. However, the legislature then passed a law conditioning the restoration of rights on paying all fines and costs related to their incarceration. As a practical matter, this would bar many of those felons from voting. The 11th Circuit agreed with the trial court that this was unconstitutional. This could affect 1.4 million felons. In 2016, Donald Trump carried Florida by approximately 100,000 votes. In 2018, the Senate and Governor's races were decided by 10,000 and 30,000 votes respectively.
It's possible that either the full panel of the 11th Circuit or Supreme Court could issue a stay before the presidential election, but there wouldn't be time for a Supreme Court decision on the merits by then.
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-ba ... equirement
It's possible that either the full panel of the 11th Circuit or Supreme Court could issue a stay before the presidential election, but there wouldn't be time for a Supreme Court decision on the merits by then.
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-ba ... equirement