Florida felons could get a bit more clarity on their voting rights with a new proposal

Election officials in Florida say they are working to “streamline” a process for formerly incarcerated people to figure out whether they are eligible to vote in the state.

Florida’s Department of State is considering a proposal to formalize how people who served time for a felony conviction can ask the state to clarify if they have met all the requirements to get their voting rights back. The rule change would eventually need to be approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In 2018, voters in Florida approved a ballot measure, known as Amendment 4, that “restores the voting rights of Floridians with felony convictions after they complete all terms of their sentence including parole or probation.” The measure excludes people who committed murder or a felony sex offense.

But before Amendment 4 went into effect, Florida’s Republican-controlled legislature passed a law requiring that returning citizens fulfill every part of their sentence — including paying any fees or fines — in order to regain voting rights.

However, lawmakers did not create any system or database for Floridians to look up what they needed to pay to get their rights back.

“It really created a challenge for — we will say roughly 700,000 — so hundreds of thousands of individuals are impacted,” said Desmond Meade, executive director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. “And of course, you know, we definitely can't conclusively say every single one has been trying to figure this thing out. But we do know that there are hundreds of thousands of folks that just don't know.”

Neil Volz, the coalition’s deputy director, said he’s been working with state officials for years to “create a better system that will provide clarity in a specific period of time” for people who