Amendment 4, explained: How Florida restored felon voting rights, then added fees
In 2018, Florida voters changed one of the country's strictest voting bans. Amendment 4 promised to restore voting rights to most people with felony convictions once they finished their sentences. What "finished" means became a fight that ended in federal appeals court.
What voters approved
Amendment 4 passed on Nov. 6, 2018, with 64.55% of the vote, according to the Flagler County Supervisor of Elections. That was about 5.1 million yes votes to 2.8 million no votes, according to Wikipedia's summary of official results. The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, led by Desmond Meade, ran the petition drive.
The amendment restored rights once a person completed all terms of a sentence, including parole or probation. People convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense were left out. They can regain the vote only through case-by-case clemency from the governor and Cabinet. It took effect Jan. 8, 2019. The Brennan Center for Justice estimated it could cover as many as 1.4 million people.
The 2019 law on fines and fees
On June 28, 2019, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 7066. It defined "all terms of sentence" to include restitution, fines, fees and costs tied to a conviction, according to the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. The state law now cited by election offices is Section 98.0751, Florida Statutes. The Brennan Center, which sued the state, estimated the payment rule shut out more than 774,000 people.
In January 2020, the Florida Supreme Court said in an advisory opinion that voters would have understood the phrase to include those financial obligations, according to the Clearinghouse.
The federal court fight
Several lawsuits were combined before U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle, according to the Clearinghouse case record. He issued a preliminary injunction in October 2019 and, after a trial held by video, ruled on May 24, 2020, that the pay-to-vote system was partly unconstitutional.
The full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put that ruling on hold, and on July 16, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to lift the hold, according to the Brennan Center. On Sept. 11, 2020, the 11th Circuit reversed Hinkle 6-4 in an opinion by Chief Judge William Pryor, JURIST reported. The court found the law did not violate equal protection and was not a poll tax.
The result: people with felony convictions in Florida must pay all court-ordered financial obligations, or win clemency, before their voting rights return.
How we reported this: This explainer was drafted with AI assistance from the sources linked above, and every fact was checked against those sources. See an error? Contact us and we'll correct it.
Share this story: Facebook · Threads · X · LinkedIn · WhatsApp · Email