It’s been a long time coming, as many voting rights and progressive groups fought for years to make it happen. And on Tuesday it happens: “one of the largest enfranchisements of U.S. citizens in the past century.”
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Tuesday is the day that more than 1.4 million ex-felons in Florida will regain their voting rights. It truly is a cause for celebration in the Sunshine State which has for many years had the most restrictive rules in the country for restoring felons’ right to vote.
In Tampa, one voting rights group has rented buses to carry groups to register en masse at the county elections office. Other celebrants will be livestreaming the event on Facebook as they march in.
One affected person is Demetrius Jifunza, who was convicted as a teenager of armed robbery. He is now a father and pastor who is looking forward to being able to vote, and also wants to make his daughters proud.
“It’ll be a joyous day,” Jifunza said of the trip to the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections office.
The restoration of his voting rights was made possible when voters in November overturned Florida’s 1868 ban blocking residents with felony convictions from automatically having their voting rights restored once they served their sentences.
Many organizations and thousands of volunteers worked for the past decade to pass the needed amendment to the state constitution. And as Tuesday approaches, they have been increasing their efforts to encourage ex-felons to quickly register to take advantage of their new rights.
They have even set up a toll-free number, 877-MY-VOTE-0, and a website with tips on how to get the right to vote in Florida.
“We’re kicking this into a higher gear now,” said Neil Volz, political director of the bipartisan Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. Pro-bono attorneys will also be on call in case problems crop up in the coming weeks.
After Republican Ron DeSantis was elected governor of Florida in November, he and other Republicans said that the voting rights restoration would require a vote by the Republican-dominated state legislature. In December, DeSantis said that the law should be put on hold until the Legislature passes “implementing language.”
This suggestion that Amendment 4 would not take effect until the legislature reviewed it and approved it outraged many people who had fought for years to get the constitutional amendment approved. Legal experts, as well as supporter, say that the legislature does not need to do a thing.
“The amendment was written to be self-executing. It goes into effect on Jan. 8, and we can register that day,” Volz stressed. He will be in line himself in Lee County, a dozen years after he pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal in Washington. “My supervisor of elections assured me that my registration form will be accepted.”
Howard Simon, the former executive director of American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida, compared the completion of a prison sentence to other voter criteria, such as being an American citizen. “Prospective voters don’t need to bring their passport or birth certificate to register,” Simon said.
Then he added:
“People have a right to register to vote if they truthfully affirm the information they provide on the voter registration form. The onus is then on the government to find and flag any disqualifying factors.”
On Tuesday January 8, Amendment 4 to the Florida Constitution will become law. When it does, “any disqualification from voting arising from a felony conviction shall terminate and voting rights shall be restored upon completion of all terms of sentence including parole or probation.”
And that will be a joyous day.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
