Free Republic

… Restoring the voting rights of former felons drew national attention after Florida lawmakers weakened a voter-approved constitutional amendment and after a new election police unit championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis arrested 20 former felons. Several of them said they were confused by the arrests because they had been allowed to register to vote. At least 14 states have introduced proposals this year focused on restoration of voting rights, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. An Oregon proposal would allow felons to vote while incarcerated. A Tennessee bill would automatically restore voting rights once a sentence is completed,...

Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and his team have raised more than $16 million to pay the court fines and fees of nearly 32,000 Black and Hispanic Florida voters with felony convictions, an effort aimed at boosting turnout for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The money will go to fund a program organized by the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition to pay the fines, fees and restitution costs for former prisoners who are already registered to vote in Florida but barred by law from participating in the election because of those outstanding debts. Bloomberg, who has committed at least $100...

In his inaugural address, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he will file an executive order this week restoring the voting rights of many convicted felons who are currently disenfranchised under state law. “My faith teaches me to treat others with dignity and respect,” the new Democratic governor told his audience outside the state Capitol. “My faith also teachers forgiveness.” “That’s why on Thursday I will sign an executive order restoring voting rights to over a hundred thousand men and women who have done wrong in the past but are doing right now. They deserve to participate in our great democracy,”...

Democrats used to argue that once felons had served their time, they had paid their debt to society and should be able to vote. Leading presidential candidate Bernie Sanders now wants felons to never lose their right to vote, not even for those who have committed the most horrible crimes, not even while they’re in prison.

Bernie Sanders reaffirmed his stance on prison voting in an op-ed published Monday by USA Today. The 2020 presidential hopeful and current Vermont senator has vocally supported not just allowing those with prior felony convictions to cast their ballot, but those who are currently incarcerated as well. "This should not devolve into a debate about whether certain people are 'good enough' to have the right to vote. Voting is not a privilege. It is a right," Sanders wrote. "In my view, the crooks on Wall Street who caused the great recession of 2008 that hurt millions of Americans are not...

Progressive organizations, many financed by billionaire activist George Soros, are working overtime to restore voting rights for Florida’s nearly 1.4 million ex-felons as the nation’s biggest swing state seems poised to play a pivotal electoral role in the 2020 presidential race. The current battle revolves around a Florida state amendment that was passed last year restoring voting rights for felons, with progressive groups opposing a local bill that would require the state’s ex-felons to first pay civil fines and court fees before registering to vote. Florida’s Amendment Four was approved by voters during last year’s Midterm election. The heavily Soros-funded...

Sen. Bernie Sanders has long fought to restore voting rights for felons who’ve completed their prison sentences. Now the presidential candidate wants to go a big step further – arguing that those currently behind bars should be able to vote too. Asked on the campaign trail in Muscatine, Iowa on Saturday if those imprisoned should have the right to vote, the independent senator from Vermont who’s making his second straight bid for the Democratic nomination answered: "I think that is absolutely the direction we should go.” "In my state, what we do is separate. You’re paying a price, you committed...

Five months after killing 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, confessed shooter Nikolas Cruz registered to vote from Broward County Jail. Andrew Pollack, the father of Meadow Pollack, one of the 14 students Cruz confessed to murdering on his Feb. 14 rampage, Tweeted his fury Saturday morning, referring to Cruz by his Broward County court case number. I'm sick to my stomach. 18-1958 murdered 17 students & staff, including my daughter Meadow. Yet in July, Broward Sheriff @ScottJIsrael let people into the jail to get him & other animals registered to vote.The Despicable Democrats have no...

Constitutional Amendment 4 — known as the Voting Restoration Amendment — was passed in the state, allowing nearly 1.5 million convicted felons who’ve served out their sentence to vote. The measure doesn’t apply to anyone convicted of murder and felony sex offenses. Prior to the amendment, convicted felons in the state had to wait five years after serving out their sentence and then apply with the Florida Clemency Board for the right to vote. The governor then needed to personally approve their petition to have their rights restored.

New York City Launches Voter Registration Drive in Jails Casting a ballot will be easier for eligible inmates under a new program announced by Mayor de Blasio By Katie Honan Aug. 7, 2018 7:19 p.m. ET New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio laid out a new voter registration drive in the city’s correctional facilities. Eligible inmates will be able to directly sign up to vote and have their absentee ballots picked up from jail. In the past, these forms and ballots were sent through regular mail, where security measures could cause delays. Inmates would register to vote using their...

The left cares about women. It cares about them so much that it's going to bat for the rapists who are the natural Democrat base. In New York, Governor Cuomo is leading the way by restoring the voting rights of the voodoo rapist. Dozens of convicted sexual predators deemed too dangerous to be returned to the community after their release from prison are among the thousands who received conditional pardons from Gov. Cuomo, giving them the right to vote, the Daily News has learned. When you're soliciting voters, you can't be picky. At least 77 sexual predators sent to civil...

Democrat Gov. Terry McAuliffe paved way for candidacy. A confessed pedophile who served prison time for threatening to assassinate the president of the United States is running for Congress in Virginia. The candidacy of Nathan Larson, an independent, was made possible by former Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who restored the rights of felons in 2016 to vote and run for office.

Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison said at a Democratic event Monday that Republicans doing “Bible studies” in prisons is hurting Democrats’ chances at winning voters. “You know, back when I was in Minnesota State Legislature, I got the impression that maybe Democrats could possibly have an advantage with folks in this area who might vote for us,” Ellison said. “Not true. We will have to fight for their vote like we do with every other vote because I learned that a lot of Republicans will go to jails and do Bible studies and other things.”

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D.) will be granting all convicted felons in the state who are on parole a pardon, a move that will restore voting rights to more than 35,000 people. The pardons would allow Cuomo to work around the state legislature, which has not approved any such measure on criminal justice reform, the New York Times reports. Under current New York law, convicted felons may only vote again after they have completed their parole or are on probation. The executive order excludes parolees with certain firearms offenses. "The pardons following this executive order and all future restorations...

More than one million convicted felons in the swing state of Florida could receive the right to vote if a ballot measure amending Florida’s constitution passes this November.A petition in support of the measure recently surpassed the 766,200 signatures needed to get it on the ballot. If passed, the measure would restore “the voting rights of Floridians with felony convictions after they complete all terms of their sentence including parole or probation.” It would not apply to those convicted of murder or sexual offenses.If passed, the ballot measure could have a significant impact on election outcomes in the state.President Donald Trump...

Florida voters will decide this fall if 1.5 million felons will get their voting rights back. Desmond Meade of Orlando and his group Floridians for Fair Democracy successfully gathered more than 799,000 certified signatures in their years-long petition drive, just a week before the deadline to reach the required total of about 766,000. On Tuesday, the state certified the initiative for the Nov. 6 ballot. If approved by 60 percent of voters in the fall, the amendment would restore voting rights to Floridians with felony convictions after they fully complete their sentences, including parole or probation. Those convicted of murder...

Thousands of felons across Alabama have registered to vote in recent weeks, according to Pastor Kenneth Glasgow, who is heading up a statewide effort to get felons to the voting booth. Glasgow's goal is to get as many felons as possible signed up to vote before the end of the day Monday, the deadline to be able to cast a ballot in Alabama's Dec. 12 U.S. Senate special election.

Thousands of felons across Alabama have registered to vote in recent weeks, according to Pastor Kenneth Glasgow, who is heading up a statewide effort to get felons to the voting booth. Glasgow's goal is to get as many felons as possible signed up to vote before the end of the day Monday, the deadline to be able to cast a ballot in Alabama's Dec. 12 U.S. Senate special election. "In the last month, I think we registered at least five- to ten-thousand people all over the state," Glasgow, president of Dothan's The Ordinary People Society (TOPS) advocacy group, said Monday....

During Tuesday’s election in Virginia, Williams had originally planned to go and vote right at 6 a.m., but her ride was delayed a few hours. Williams, a former felon, lost her right to vote decades ago because she was convicted of a felony and Virginia bars felons from voting unless that right is restored by the governor. Williams, who is now back in school working to earn a degree that will help her become an auto-mechanic, said she was last in prison in 2014, but only recently had her voting rights restored by Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D). And so on...

....“I don’t know how you get around that this wasn’t a referendum on the administration, I just don’t," Taylor told reporters at Gillespie's election night party. "Some of the very divisive rhetoric really prompted and helped usher in a really high Democratic turnout... "I’m telling you that from someone who is from Virginia, who watched these races, who watched people lose tonight against opponents who are completely no name.” ....Taylor admitted that Trump could threaten the GOP's House majority. When asked whether Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) would retain his speakership if Trump doesn't moderate, Taylor said it was an "interesting...