And as I saw on Twitter not long ago (wish I’d actually captured the tweet so I could attribute properly): “If Florida were offered cake or a boot to the head, it would be 50.1% to 49.9% and have to go to a recount.”
Ah Florida, giving us all ulcers since (at least) 2000.
But in 2018, Florida OVERWHELMINGLY passed Amendment 4 to their state constitution. The amendment restored voting rights to people convicted of a felony who’d fulfilled all terms of their sentences, including any parole or probation.
Yes, prior to 2018, Florida permanently disenfranchised returning citizens, for all intents and purposes, since each person had to individually appeal to the governor, who pretty much always said no.
(That’s an over-simplification – Dem governor Charlie Crist had actually reformed Florida’s laws in 2007, but as soon as Republican Rick Scott was elected, he Jim Crowed the state right back up.)
This should’ve re-enfranchised about 1.4 million people, disproportionately Black folks.
But wait!
Florida Republicans decided they couldn’t have THAT and passed a law that all fines had to be paid as well, even though it’s been well-documented that the state doesn’t even have accurate records about who owes what.
Which leaves an awful lot of those 1.4 million people in limbo.
But you can help.
The 501c3 nonprofit Florida Rights Restoration Coalition is running a campaign, We Got the Vote, to raise money to pay people’s fines so they can vote.
(You may have heard of these folks either on this week’s Full Frontal with Samantha Bee or because Mike Bloomberg has been raising money for them.)
Did I mention that your donations are 100% tax deductible? And that 100% of your donation will go to paying off fines so people in Florida can vote?
You know what to do.
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