The Independent View: FL Acts to Remove Felons from Voter Rolls as Early Voting Approaches

Florida Voters in 2018 overwhelmingly Approved a Constitutional Amendment to give Felons a Vote. In 2019, the Republican-led State Legislature Passed a Contentious Law that Requires Felons to First Pay Off any Court-Ordered Debts before Registering. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) Signed the Bill into Law.

Florida will seek to push Former Felons from Voter Rolls if they have Outstanding Court Debts, a late-hour move that comes after more than 2 Million People already have Mailed their Vote or will start Early Voting on Oct. 19th., in this Presidential Battleground.

The announcement, which was Distributed to Local Election Officials but Not the wider Public, drew immediate Pushback from County Election Supervisors and Suspicion from Democrats who say it could be used to Challenge the eventual Election Results.

Division of Elections Director, Maria Matthews, in an email to the State’s 67 Local Election Supervisors late Tuesday, said they would “begin to see” Files on Registered Voters “whose potential ineligibility is based on not having satisfied the legal financial obligations of their sentence.”

Unwritten in the Email was the Assumption that Local Officials should Start Acting on any Information they Receive. The Email also Instructed Supervisors to Act on Information from other Sources, including Court Clerks, that raises Eligibility Questions.

Secretary of State, Laurel Lee (R) released a Written Statement saying her Office has a Duty to Enforce the 2019 Law after it was Upheld by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 6-4 Decision last month. “The law requires the department to review information from a number of sources and make an initial determination as to whether the information is credible and reliable,” she wrote. “With the 11th Circuit’s recent decision, the law with respect to legal financial obligations is now clear and there is no legal basis for the department to ignore the obligations spelled out in Florida Statutes.”

Attorney Mark Herron (D) called the Action “smelly” and said it could be used by the Trump Campaign to Challenge Election Results.

Biden Campaign Spokesperson, Carlie Waibel, blasted the State's move. “Plain and simple: this is voter suppression,” Waibel said in an email. “For the past two years, we’ve seen Florida Republicans do everything in their power to defy the will of the overwhelming majority of Florida voters who cast their ballot in favor of Amendment 4. And here they go again.”

State Rules leave it up to Local Election Supervisors to Add and Remove Voters from the Rolls. But it’s the Job of the State to Review Law Enforcement and Court Records to see if a Registered Voter is Ineligible. The State Division of Elections sends that Information to Supervisors, who must follow a Process to Remove the Voter, including Mailing a Written Notice.

Supervisors said that Short Timeline makes it Impossible for them to Remove Anyone from the Rolls before the Nov. 3rd Election if they follow the current Process. Brian Corley (R), the Supervisor for Pasco County, called the Timing “problematic, especially during one of the most scrutinized elections ever.” Corley said he has No Idea how many Voters the Division of Elections might Send his way. “Are we going to get these next week? Am I getting a hundred or a thousand?” Corley said. “It’s a little disappointing, as you might imagine.”

The DeSantis Administration First Flagged No Voters on the Rolls who might be Violating the Requirements.

Leon County Supervisor of Elections, Mark Earley (D) said that it’s Possible that Someone Flagged by State Officials at this Late Date might already have Voted. “If someone has voted or voted before they are removed from the rolls, we cannot prevent that and those will votes will be counted,” Earley said.

The Number of Registered Voters who Owe Court Debts isn’t known, but a University of Florida Study, estimated that there could be nearly 775,000 Felons in the State with Unpaid Debts.

During a Trial this Spring over the Felon Voting Law, Matthews, the State Elections Director, Testified in Federal Court, that some 85,000 Voters on Florida’s Rolls could be Ineligible under the Felon Voting Law.