The Sunshine State, Florida has a new amendment that restores the right of ex-felons to vote. There is a little technicality that says all felons have to settle all court fees or they won't be allowed to vote.
Most convicted felons cannot vote, which makes the Florida amendment a big deal for those wanting to exercise their right of suffrage. Now with the law signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and still agreed upon by the U.S. Supreme Court will pose a huge change, reported CBS News.
One of these convicted felons is Christine Vincent, who wants to function as a normal citizen. The passed law may cloud her chances. Instituting the law in Florida has not been seen as favorable, especially for those affected. For many, this law is very controversial, especially for former felons.
How much is owed by the felon can be hard to determine. Most of the records are somewhat the problem itself. Take Vincent, who comes from Broward and has three kids. She served two years committing Grand Theft, but she still has to pay $8,000 fees. The catch is that she thought it was already settled. A voting rights group called the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition told her that she owes the 8-grand but the local system cannot verify the exact amount, cited MSN.
She expressed that voting is a big deal to her and the right gives here equal footing to non-felons, and she is not seen in a convict persona. Hearing the De Santis edict made her feel a felon again, having to begin at step one all over again.
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Jonathan Diaz, who is a voting rights attorney linked to the Campaign Legal Center, said that the process of the actual amount owed by felons is hard to settle. He expressed it more succinctly that a legal background is needed, noted WTOP News. To make a point, record-keeping is in disarray, which is aggravated by no digitization of existing documents. Another problem is the data is kept by the county, not in a singular database for single access.
Another ex-felon with such problems related to fees is Angel Sanchez, 38 years-old, chipping away at fees costing $1,698. These are court-ordered fees from a 12-year sentence by committing a gang-related crime. He is the exception because he worked in a burger joint and paid the legal fees with his earnings from there. But now, he is a graduate from the Miami School of Law.
When he checked on what he owed, the information indicated that all the fees for everything including court fees are all paid up.
Sanchez, who resides in Miami-Dade, is working with state institutions to fix the errors that have piled up since. In November, he can finally vote freely.
He is worried that if the issue is not cleared up, it will keep ex-felons from exercising their rights. He added that he is a productive member of society. He does not want to be called for voting fraud.
For Sanchez, it is all clear to vote but, other ex-felons may have a problem with court fees and fines till the state resolves everything.
