Biden visits Florida after court thwarts former felon voter accesshttps://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/biden-visits-florida-after-court-thwarts-former-felon-voter-accessA federal appeals court upheld a state law requiring ex-felons to pay off their legal debts before they're eligible to register to vote, potentially disenfranchising 775,000 of an estimated 1.4 million people in the 2020 presidential race.
The decision, made 6-4 along partisan lines, essentially preserves Florida's electorate, a state with a reputation for close contests and where President Trump won in 2016 by 115,000 votes out of 9 million ballots cast.
The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals' ruling will likely be argued before the Supreme Court, though not before the Nov. 3 general election, gifting Trump an early win in the crucial swing state, according to Florida State University's Carol Weissert.
The district court ruling that the law's requirement that both sentences and fines be served and paid was effective a "poll tax" was just dumb.
