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<< Lies Around Medical Malpractice | Main | What Does Chile, Singapore Trade Votes Mean? >> July 24, 2003125,000 New Voters in Florida?In a major legal settlement, Florida has agreed that 125,000 former felons in Florida were illegally denied information on how to restore their voting rights during the 1990s. The result of the settlement? 31,000 of them will likely immediately get back their voting rights and be able to vote next year. The rest will be able to apply for restoration through the state clemency hearing process. Florida is one of a handful of states that takes away a felon's voting rights for the rest of their life, unless the governor grants them their rights back through clemency hearings. Both this disenfranchisement and the mistaken barring of other legal voters as felons in 2000 helped elect Bush President-- so this restoration of voting rights is bad news for the rightwing. An even more comprehensive lawsuit is coming before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals demanding that the whole system of permanent felon disenfranchisement be struck down as racially motivated and unconstitutional. This would restore voting rights to the estimated 600,000 Floridians denied the right to vote because of past crimes. Posted by Nathan at July 24, 2003 08:15 PM Related posts:
Trackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry: CommentsQuote: Florida is one of a handful of states that takes away a felon's voting rights for the rest of their life That's a damning indictment by a state of its own prison system. Clearly, the legislatures in Florida and states with a similar policy believe their own prison systems are completely unable to reform those sent to them. They are acknowledgeding their own inability to make an effective prison system. Posted by: Tim H at July 27, 2003 12:23 AM i still don't understand why clinton, gore and the rest of the establishment dems didn't make blacks illegally scrubbed off the voting rolls a national issue. if i were black, i'd consider their silence an unforgivable betrayal. Posted by: niner at July 29, 2003 12:37 AM It is shameful in my eyes for a party to say that the only reason they lost an election is because they weren't able to get the criminal vote counted. Posted by: Phelps at July 29, 2003 01:46 PM Post a comment
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