Fed judge rules Florida can't stop poor felons from voting

 A federal judge in Tallahassee ruled Sunday night that Florida law can't stop felons from voting because y can't pay back any legal fees and restitution y owe.

In a 125-p ruling, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle called law passed by Florida Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis last year a “pay-to-vote system.”

Hinkle's order called court fees a tax and said it creates a new system for determining wher felons are eligible to vote.

bill, which attempted to define what it means to complete a prison sentence, requires felons to pay all fines, restitution and or legal financial obligations before ir sentences can be considered fully served. Florida voters approved Amendment 4 in 2018, restoring voting rights for felons. It permanently bars convicted murderers and rapists from voting, regardless of financial debts.

judge's decision could have deep ramifications. Florida's estimated 774,000 disenfranchised felons represent a significant bloc in a state well kwn for razor-thin election margins. Many of those felons are black and presumably Democrats.

During a trial earlier this month, Hinkle asked during state's closing argument, “Why is it all Republicans voted yes, and all Democrats voted ?”

“That was t a coincidence" Hinkle said n. “It would be stunning if somebody told me that y did t realize that African Americans tend to vote Democratic.”

goverr’s office is reviewing ruling, Helen Aguirre Ferré, goverr’s spokeswoman, said in an email Monday morning.

Hinkle wrote that his order affirms that state of Florida can “condition voting on payment of fines and restitution that a person is able to pay but cant condition voting on payment of amounts a person is unable to pay.”

Reaction was quick following holiday weekend ruling.

Julie Ebenstein, senior staff attorney with American Civil Liberties Union's Voting Rights Project, called Hinkle's ruling a “tremendous victory for voting rights."

“ court recognized that conditioning a person’s right to vote on ir ability to pay is unconstitutional," Ebenstein wrote in an email. “This ruling means hundreds of thousands of Floridians will be able to rejoin electorate and participate in upcoming elections."