Judge Allen Winsor issued a 13-page decision dismissing a lawsuit filed in April by the League of Women Voters of Florida and the NAACP against Secretary of State Cord Byrd.The case stemmed, in part, from a 2018 constitutional amendment designed to restore the voting rights of felons who had completed their sentences.
“The restoration of rights remains the eligibility requirement for felons,” Winsor wrote. “And that requirement, as plaintiffs acknowledge, is included on the form they challenge. That is enough to doom plaintiffs’ challenge.” After voters passed the 2018 constitutional amendment, the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2019 approved a controversial law to carry out the measure. That law included requiring felons to pay “legal financial obligations,” such as restitution, fines and fees, to be eligible to have voting rights restored.
“Florida’s eligibility requirements for returning citizens differ depending on the crime, terms of sentence, and state of conviction,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote in a June 1 court document. “But the application says nothing about these requirements. Making matters worse, Florida agencies have proven unable to timely verify the eligibility of voters.