Back in August 20 people were arrested in Florida as part of a sting operation on "voter fraud" heavily publicized by Gov. DeSantis. Each person had a felony conviction and voted, but I wrote about how each person was specifically told by election authorities that they were legally able to vote. The confusion stems from how felony voter right restoration was implemented in Florida, where the state insisted that everyone had to pay all outstanding fines while at the same time
In principle “you need to pay your court fines before you regain the right to vote as a convicted felon” doesn’t strike me as an especially egregious policy - I wouldn’t personally vote for it but I also wouldn’t have thought that it was worth it to expend political capital to fight it.
This pretty clearly demonstrates why this is a horrible rule in practice, though. It is absurd to put these people in a situation where they reasonably believe they can vote, not least because their applications were approved, and then get arrested and charged after the fact.
Democrats definitely pass laws that are more about virtue signaling than serious attempts at governance, but Republicans seem to do this way more. It’s like they’ve abandoned any attempt to seriously implement their policy goals in a way that is reasonable.
Two years ago there was a legal attempt to lift any monetary penalties for felons in Florida before they could vote under the Amendment 4 initiative. It was essentially struck down by a hung SCOTUS meaning that felons could still vote but only if they payed all of their fines and fees related to conviction. Critics have compared these fees to a poll tax, something that recalls Jim Crow laws, even though these were evenly applied and broadly affected everyone who would struggle to pay for a vote. I'd like to hear your thoughts on whether this is just.
In principle “you need to pay your court fines before you regain the right to vote as a convicted felon” doesn’t strike me as an especially egregious policy - I wouldn’t personally vote for it but I also wouldn’t have thought that it was worth it to expend political capital to fight it.
This pretty clearly demonstrates why this is a horrible rule in practice, though. It is absurd to put these people in a situation where they reasonably believe they can vote, not least because their applications were approved, and then get arrested and charged after the fact.
Democrats definitely pass laws that are more about virtue signaling than serious attempts at governance, but Republicans seem to do this way more. It’s like they’ve abandoned any attempt to seriously implement their policy goals in a way that is reasonable.
Two years ago there was a legal attempt to lift any monetary penalties for felons in Florida before they could vote under the Amendment 4 initiative. It was essentially struck down by a hung SCOTUS meaning that felons could still vote but only if they payed all of their fines and fees related to conviction. Critics have compared these fees to a poll tax, something that recalls Jim Crow laws, even though these were evenly applied and broadly affected everyone who would struggle to pay for a vote. I'd like to hear your thoughts on whether this is just.