In November, Florida passed Amendment 4 which restored voting rights to around 1.4 million former felons who had served out their sentences. The Republican Party, especially in Florida, have used disenfranchisement to their advantage for many decades now, and losing this racist and undemocratic tool has really made them work. On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled Florida House committee voted to advance a measure that would create a huge financial impediment for formerly incarcerated Floridians to receive their newly won civil rights.
Voting along party lines, Republicans advanced the measure, which would require felons pay back all court fees and costs before being eligible to vote, even if those costs are not handed down by a judge as part of the person’s sentence.
Democratic Rep. Adam Hattersley told reporters that, “It’s blatantly unconstitutional as a poll tax.” The Republican Party proves the aphorism “there is no rest for the wicked.”