Center for Public Integrity: IN FLORIDA, VOTING RIGHTS RESTORED, THEN SNATCHED BACK

As Floridians try to figure out how to safely vote this fall, one substantial group of would-be voters is largely blocked from the ballot box. And hurricanes have added another complication in a year overshadowed by a different disaster, the coronavirus. …

But last year, the Republican-controlled state legislature passed a bill that said sentences weren’t truly complete until any court fees, fines or restitution was paid. (By contrast, Iowa recently reinstated voting rights without requiring those payments first.) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, calling voters’ approval of the 2018 amendment a “mistake,” signed the bill.

Voting-rights advocates decried the new law as a modern-day poll tax that many would not be able to pay. A federal judge said the state, in 18 months, hadn’t finished reviewing even one of the roughly 85,000 pending registrations by people with felony convictions to determine whether they could vote or how much they owe.

Given how the information is stored and how old some of it is, “this whole question of who owes what is unanswerable in many cases,” said Liza McClenaghan, state chair for Common Cause Florida. …

Florida isn’t sending mail-in ballots to all its registered voters (like some states) or applications for those ballots (like some others). But it does allow any voter to get a mail-in ballot without requiring an excuse, such as age or disability.

However, any ballot that arrives after 7 p.m. Election Day won’t be counted, even if it was postmarked before. Given U.S. Postal Service slowdowns, some residents relying on the mail could find their vote invalidated. In April, and again in early September, voting-rights groups asked DeSantis to allow ballots to be counted as long as they’re postmarked by Election Day and arrive soon afterward.

He has not responded to their request, McClenaghan said. The governor’s office did not provide a comment on the matter. …

There is some good news for voters concerned that showing up at the polls could be dangerous and mailing their ballot could get it tossed out. Florida mandated ballot drop boxes last year.

“But it’s the implementation and access to those drop boxes that become the question,” McClenaghan said. “The lines for our primary in August were cars in line to drop off their ballots on election night.”

Among the challenges, she said: Figuring out where drop boxes are and which ones are available round the clock, as opposed to only when staff are present. She recommends voters check with their local Supervisor of Elections office.

“It’s a new thing,” she said, “so everybody’s learning.”