Florida Felons Must Pay Fines to Vote, Appeals Court Rules
- Enlarged Atlanta appeals panel overturns earlier ruling
- Dissenting judge calls majority opinion ‘profoundly wrong’
Governor Ron DeSantis
Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Florida felons who are otherwise eligible to vote can be blocked from casting ballots if they haven’t paid all their court fees and victim restitution, a federal appeals court ruled -- affirming a law that could bar thousands of people from the polls in the swing state.
The 6-4 decision Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta denies voting rights to hundreds of thousands of people with past felony convictions, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement. That could impact the 2020 election because President Donald Trump won Florida by a margin of 1.2%.