On Friday, Under the Radar host Callie Crossley joined Boston Public Radio to discuss what she derided as “a poll tax” currently being contested in the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In 2018, Florida voters passed Amendment 4, which opened the door to allow certain felons the right to vote, once their sentence had been served. But months later, in June of 2019, state legislatures passed an additional bill, SB 7066, requiring former felons to pay all fees and fines related to their convictions before registering to vote.
Read more: Florida Faces A Rocky Rollout To Restore Voting Rights After Felony Convictions
“The Republican-run legislature, with a little help from the Republican governor — that would be Ron DeSantis — came up with, ‘Well, let’s tweak this just a bit. Why don’t we make it … 'You can get your right to vote again, if you pay any outstanding fines, bills,'' whatever … they could dredge up,” Crossley said.
Most felons in Florida owe at least $500 in fees, which voting rights advocates say presents an undue burden in their gaining the right to vote. "The ruling … by the voters was, ‘We are giving back the right of these felons, non-violent felons, who have served their time, the ability to vote — period,’” Crossley added.
Certain estimates, like these cited by the Miami Herald, indicate that the new rules stands to bar hundreds of thousands of felons from regaining their right to vote, either for years or indefinitely.
"That was not a part of [Amendment 4]. It’s in effect what is known as a poll tax, or what was know as a poll tax,” Crossley said. The Under the Radar host explained that, before being banned by the Supreme Court in 1966, poll taxes were "very effective at preventing mostly African-Americans [from voting],” by requiring additional fees in order to cast a ballot, which many black Americans were unable to pay.
An additional trial, challenging the constitutionality of SB 7066, is scheduled to take place in a Tallahassee district court in April.
