Amendment 4—a Florida referendum restoring voting rights to former felons—passed in 2018 with 65% of the vote, paving the way for an additional 1.4 million voters in the swing state.
Republican Governor Ron DeSantis immediately took steps to undermine the public will by signing into law a bill that would only restore voting rights to felons who fully pay all fees and fines imposed after leaving prison.
Under Florida law, court debts left unpaid after three months are referred to private debt collectors, who can then tack on a surcharge of up to 40%.
Florida's Supreme Court recently sided with DeSantis, who took to Twitter to praise the verdict.
Astonishingly, DeSantis asserted that voting is a "privilege."
That didn't sit well with former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who quickly collected him.
Clinton stressed that voting is not a privilege, but a right on which the United States was founded. Any law requiring that people pay money to vote can be equated to a poll tax, which are unconstitutional under the 24th Amendment.
The amendment reads:
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax."
Others agreed that the law—and DeSantis's assertion that voting is a privilege—were B.S.
Others recalled DeSantis's own narrow win over Democrat Andrew Gillum in the 2018 gubernatorial race.
The praise was high for Hillary Clinton.
You can help felons who have served their time become eligible to vote by donating here.
@maggieastor/Bluesky
@maggieastor/Bluesky
@maggieastor/Bluesky
@maggieastor/Bluesky
@banner19/Bluesky
@awizarddidit114/Bluesky
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
