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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA Quarter of Floridas Black Citizens cant Vote. A new Referendum Could Change That
A Quarter of Floridas Black Citizens cant Vote. a new Referendum Could Change ThatSpencer Woodman
The Intercept
For more than a century, the state of Florida has presided over one of American historys single most effective and enduring efforts to disenfranchise voters. By far the most populous of the three states that strip lifelong voting rights from people with felony convictions, Florida is home to some 1.5 million residents who can never again cast a ballot unless pardoned by the states governor, according to a calculation by The Sentencing Project.
Floridas legions of disenfranchised voters are disproportionately Democrat-leaning minorities including nearly a quarter of Floridas black population numbers that advocates say amount to a long-standing and often ignored civil rights catastrophe. This racial skew means that the states mass disenfranchisement could have changed the outcome of some particularly important elections such as Bush v. Gore and thus the direction of modern American history itself. Most recently, after the states Republican governor clamped down on the ability of ex-felons to have their rights restored, Donald Trump won the crucial swing state by a margin less than a tenth the size of the states disenfranchised population, leading some to question the effect that felony disenfranchisement may have had on the size of Trumps Electoral College win.
In spite of the states eye-popping voting statistics, national groups, including the Democratic Party, have shown little interest in placing real resources behind recent efforts to roll back the countrys most impactful voting restriction.
Yet in recent weeks, even without any significant organizational backing, a coalition composed largely of disenfranchised Floridians quietly reached a new landmark in a long and laborious fight to overturn the states law. On Monday, after organizers had spent years gathering the requisite 68,314 petition signatures, Floridas high court announced it had set a March date to consider the proposal to allow a referendum on the 2018 ballot asking voters to roll back the states felony voting restriction.
Floridas legions of disenfranchised voters are disproportionately Democrat-leaning minorities including nearly a quarter of Floridas black population numbers that advocates say amount to a long-standing and often ignored civil rights catastrophe. This racial skew means that the states mass disenfranchisement could have changed the outcome of some particularly important elections such as Bush v. Gore and thus the direction of modern American history itself. Most recently, after the states Republican governor clamped down on the ability of ex-felons to have their rights restored, Donald Trump won the crucial swing state by a margin less than a tenth the size of the states disenfranchised population, leading some to question the effect that felony disenfranchisement may have had on the size of Trumps Electoral College win.
In spite of the states eye-popping voting statistics, national groups, including the Democratic Party, have shown little interest in placing real resources behind recent efforts to roll back the countrys most impactful voting restriction.
Yet in recent weeks, even without any significant organizational backing, a coalition composed largely of disenfranchised Floridians quietly reached a new landmark in a long and laborious fight to overturn the states law. On Monday, after organizers had spent years gathering the requisite 68,314 petition signatures, Floridas high court announced it had set a March date to consider the proposal to allow a referendum on the 2018 ballot asking voters to roll back the states felony voting restriction.
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A Quarter of Floridas Black Citizens cant Vote. A new Referendum Could Change That (Original Post)
portlander23
Dec 2016
OP
I think this policy has been in place since long before the republicans were running Florida. n/t
hughee99
Dec 2016
#3
libtodeath
(2,888 posts)1. One more racist way that the repukes cheat.
hughee99
(16,113 posts)3. I think this policy has been in place since long before the republicans were running Florida. n/t
LuvLoogie
(7,027 posts)2. It might win in a national referendum, but Florida will keep the lifelong ban, I'm afraid.
It's a perfect cycle. Racial profiling, trumped up charges leading to felony convictions, lifetime bans, cross check voter caging.
"Get out of Florida if you don't like it" Or you can remain without the fulll rights of citizens.
Truth321
(93 posts)4. 25% have felonies????
No way this is true.This must be fake news.