On November 6th, 2018, Floridians will be lining up to vote in the general election.

Unfortunately, a significant amount of Florida’s population can’t vote due to the state’s
Disenfranchised Laws. These laws have been a national issue for over a century – starting right
after the Civil War due racial tensions.

With racial tensions high after the passing of the 15th Amendment, many state representatives
wanted to deny newly freed slaves their new constitutional right to vote. When voting taxes and
literature tests weren’t enough to do this, they turned their attention to a loophole in the
Constitution that denied convicted felons the right to vote (Muhammad, 13th). Florida changed its
constitution in 1868, to uphold the 13th Amendment, but added one detail that target criminals.
These strict laws were so powerful that, by 1958, “just seven African Americans were registered
to vote out of 10,930 black adults in one Florida county”, says Brennan Center for Justice. Since
1868, there has been no changes to that Article in Florida’s constitution.
 Mention the fact there little record.
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Johnson vs. Bush

Governor Charlie Crist

In Florida it seemed to be no sign of change to Florida’s Disenfranchised Laws. Until, 2007
when Governor Charlie Crist took office. Governor Charlie Crist took the first step by revising
rules of executive clemency. This change help restore voting right for nonviolent ex-felon after
they served their sentence and depending on their crime. “A year later, in 2008, Gov. Crist’s
office announced that over 115,000 Floridians had regained voting rights since the new rules
were implemented”, states Brennan Center for Justice. Although Florida still had Disenfranchise
Laws, Governor Charlie Crist paved the way for new reform to help certain ex-felon get their
voting rights back.

When Governor Rick Scott was elected into office in 2011, Rick Scott went backwards and
immediately undo all of Gov. Charlie Christ work. Brennan Center For Justice stated, “The
current clemency rules… are the most restrictive in several administrations.” Governor Rick
Scott got rid of the new progressive reform and came up with his own clemency reform, that has
hurt a significant amount of ex-felon who are ready to have their voting rights restored.

Florida Clemency Board

As Governor Rick Scott explained in 2016 to one man about why he was denied his requested to
have his voting rights restored, he described, “Clemency is — there's no standard," Scott said.
"We can do whatever we want. But it's ... tied to remorse. And ... understanding that we all want
to live in a law-abiding society" NPR. The Florida Clemency Board, is a small council made up
of Gov. Rick Scott and three member of Rick Scott council. In order for ex-felon to even meet
with Clemency Board they first have to wait either 5-10 years, depending on what type of
clemency they desire, after completing their sentence in order to even apply for a hearing. The
Clemency Board only meet 3-4 times a year, so you could wait even longer for a hearing. This
limited meeting, make it impossible for ex-felon to get a hearing at all. If an ex-felon is lucky to
get a hearing there no rule guide line that Florida Clemency Board follows. Like Governor Rick
Scott said there’s no standard that they follow. Also if you go to….. it will state “Clemency is an
act of mercy that absolves the individual upon whom it is bestowed from all or any part of the
punishment that the law imposes.” There no Federal rule that board has to follow and they don’t
have to give a reason why they denied someone there right to vote. Take for instance, ex-felon
Leon Gillis.

Leon Gillis served time for robbery and drug convictions. Gillis had been clean eight years and was
even running a drug rehab program in 2011 when he made his case to the board to get his right to
vote back. Gillis’ interaction with Scott went like this:

Scott: So at this point I’m going to deny your restoration of civil rights.

Gillis: Can I ask you a question?

Scott: Yes sir.

Gillis: How long is that?

Scott: I’m not sure. And if, um, you know it, um, I think every case is different.

Gillis: Well what should I do with my life then? If I’m doing everything I’m supposed to do,
and I’m trying and I’m making sure that I do everything I’m supposed to do, then how long
am I supposed to wait?”

Scott: I couldn’t tell you that answer but if, uh, today, I don’t feel comfortable doing it.”

The Future

It seems that Florida will be stuck with Disenfranchised Laws and the Clemency Board. But
people are taking a stand. On the 2018 Florida ballot, there is Amendment that can change that.
Amendment 4 restores voting rights to former felons who served their sentence, including parole
and probation, with the exception of those convicted of murder and sexual offenses. It was the
only citizen intuition amendment that made it on the ballot. More than 799,000 voters whose
signatures were certified on a petition by the group Floridians for Fair Democracy to
place Amendment 4 on the ballot. If Amendment 4 gets the required votes it will be enacted, in the
Florida’s Constitution. It will help restore ex-felon there right to vote.
A disproportionate amount of earlier convicted felons were people of color, with prison
population numbers spiking in year… In order to get free labor, they would throw people of
color into prison for the smallest charges. These discranmation, would lead into Jim Crow era,

You may be still be having doubt that we should restore voting rights to felons. But what may
surprise you is that the Disenfranchised Law was used during the Reconstruction era in the South
to exclude newly freed slaves. This selective exclusion was part of a larger assault on black
suffrage that was codified by state legislators at constitutional conventions during the decades
following the Civil War. Looking for ways to disqualify blacks without running afoul of the
newly ratified Fifteenth Amendment, which prohibited blatant exclusion on racial grounds, these
legislators adopted a host of ostensibly neutral voting barriers to achieve their desired end. In
addition to adopting discriminatory literacy tests and poll taxes, they rewrote their felon
disenfranchisement laws to subtly disqualify blacks. Disenfranchised Law wasn’t created to
“protect American Citizen from dangerous criminals”, but it was created to deny black people
their constitutional right to vote, by finding a loop hole in the system.

Disenfranchise laws are a nationwide, but each state has different stander of the law. Some states
are more lianate and allow ex-felons to gain their voting rights after they serve their sentence.
There are actually two states, Maine and Vermont, that allow prisoner to vote will they are still
serving their sentence. However, there are four state that puts ex-felon on a waiting lists in order
to apply to get their voting rights back. Florida is one of those states. Florida has the highest
disenfranchisement rate in the country. When governor Rick Scott took office in 2011 he rolled
back reforms put in place by his predecessor, Charlie Crist. More than 150,000 Floridians
had their voting rights restored during Crist's four years in office. In the seven years since
then, Rick Scott has approved restoring voting rights to just over 3,000 people.