Florida Felons Want Their Voting Rights Restored
“Today, Florida has one of the nation’s strictest felon-disenfranchisement policies, but nearly all states place at least some restrictions on felons’ right to vote. (Just two states, Maine and Vermont, allow felons to vote while in prison.) Many critics of the policies point to their racially disproportionate impact: In Florida, more than 21 percent of black adults are disenfranchised because of this policy. Still, Meade and Volz were both quick to point out that this issue does not only affect African Americans. ‘We know that this impacts whites way more than it impacts blacks,’ Meade told me, since the majority of felons are white. Since their main argument is that this issue affects people in all Florida communities, they have highlighted race less than might be expected.”