Judge rules on felons paying fines before voting

Almost 800,000 Floridians will be affected by the new ruling regarding felons paying fines and fees before voting.

A federal judge ruled that any felon who wants to vote  must pay all fines, fees and restitution before doing so. A lower court had previously ruled that felons can vote without paying, so long as they’ve served their time.

Governor Ron DeSantis spent a quarter million taxpayers dollar to appeal this ruling so this victory means a lot for him and the state of Florida.

This ruling could have an impact on this year’s presidential election, since Florida is a battleground state.

Neil Volz is convicted felon himself and says he’s bothered by this ruling.

“All the data shows the quicker people are able to reintegrate into the community the less likely they are to re-offend and more likely to take an ownership mentality,” said Volz, who is also the Deputy Director of Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.

“I got to vote in August for the first time in sixteen years. it was so patriotic. I felt like a full citizen of my community. and like I could use my past pain to help make good policy decisions and good leadership decisions for my community,” Volz added.

Volz says the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition has created a fund to help people pay off those fees so they will be able to vote, come November.