Tag: felon disenfranchisement
Posted on Mon Mar 31, 2008 at 09:46:10 PM EST
Tags: felon disenfranchisement (all tags)
We all know that by the time the Supreme Court got done with Bush v. Gore, President Bush won Florida by 537 votes.
The Wall St. Journal (free link) reports that requests for restoration of voting rights is up in Florida.
Republican Gov. Charlie Crist went against his party a year ago and made it easier for felons to regain their voting rights. The process has been slow, however -- stirring controversy in a state expected to be closely fought in this fall's elections.
Florida's clemency board has restored voting rights to nearly 75,000 residents. But nearly 96,000 requests are pending, according to information through March 20. Activists say there might be an additional 400,000 people who have been rejected without explanation, making it impossible for them to be reinstated.
It's not just Florida. Across the country, there are 5.3 million people who have lost the right to vote due to felony convictions. The Brennan Center reports that 4 million of them are no longer in prison. [More...]
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