Some lawmakers are pushing to make the voting process easier for convicted felons after they serve out their sentences.
- Lawmakers pushing to make voting process easier for convicted felons
- System allows felons to regain voting rights after 5 years
- New bill to allow felons to have rights restored after release
Felons who have done years in lockup and paid for their mistakes still can't unlock what they say is a fundamental American right.
It's all because of the Clemency Board, run by Governor Rick Scott and three other top Republicans. It is up to them to restore the civil rights of released felons on a case-by-case basis, and only after a minimum waiting period of five years. However, that could soon change.
Under a new Republican bill in the state house, felons could ask a judge to have their rights restored as soon as they're released.
"Someone may after a year be able to get their rights restored. Maybe someone takes ten years. That's why I want to leave it up to the courts and not set these arbitrary goalposts of three years, five years, eight years, which is the current system," Rep. Cord Byrd said.
It's a system that now has led to a backlog of 20,000 felons deep.
Every year, tens of thousands of felons who have done their time are blocked from joining Florida's voting rolls. Statewide, the tally stands at nearly 1.7 million, and under a proposed constitutional amendment, all of them would regain the right to vote immediately.
Experts said with the felon vote leaning Democratic that could give the party a big boost. However, the support for the amendment could suffer if the new bill becomes law, with many voters on the fence deciding it's enough.
The bill's supporters deny that's why it's been filed, and Sylvester Robinson believes them.