Florida reinstates voting rights for convicts

An estimated 1.2 million Florida residents who have served a prison sentence have regained the right to vote through the adoption of a new amendment to the Constitution.

Amendment 4 received 65% of the vote, according to the Miami Herald, changing the 150-year-old wording of the state's constitution.

Previously, Florida was one of four US states to have automatically and permanently revoked the right to vote of anyone who had been convicted of a crime-related crime.

"We are celebrating one of the most important franchise extensions in the history of our country," wrote Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, in a statement.

Previously incarcerated Floridians had to wait five years after their release, then seek clemency from the governor's office. Since 2011, Republican Governor Rick Scott has only cast the vote at about 2,000 people.

To be eligible, former prisoners must serve their sentence and all conditions of release, including probation. The wording of the amendment excludes those convicted of murder and serious sexual offenses, but supporters still estimate that over one million Floridians who have served a prison sentence could now vote.

A multiparty popular coalition gathered about 800,000 signatures to get the amendment in the November 6 vote. The measure needed 60% to succeed.

Proponents of the amendment have argued for months that preventing ex-prisoners from voting unfairly in the rights of men and women who had paid off their debt to society and prevented them from fully reintegrating society . They also claimed that such laws had a disproportionate impact on African Americans.

The amendment was approved by the American Civil Liberties Union, as well as by the conservative group Freedom Partners, supported by the Koch brothers.

"If we want people returning to society to return to society to be productive and law-abiding, we need to treat them as full citizens," said Mark Holden, president of Freedom Partners.

The movement also drew the star power of singer John Legend and Orange is the new black author Piper Kerman.

In the United States, a mosaic of laws has an impact on the voting of formerly incarcerated people. The Brennan Center for Justice estimates that 6 million Americans are not allowed to vote because of their criminal record.

In Florida, a text suppressing the vote of criminals was inscribed in the state constitution 150 years ago, during the post-civil war reconstruction era, in order to To prevent African Americans from voting.

With the passage of this amendment, Florida joins the ranks of dozens of US cities and states that are easing restrictions on voting for former prisoners in recent years. In April, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo restored the voting rights of about 24,000 people currently on probation or parole.