[2] On November 6, 2018, 65% of Florida voters approved Amendment 4, which automatically restores the voting rights of people convicted of a felony—except murder or sexual offenses[3]—after the completion of their sentences.
[4][5] In July 2019, however, Republicans in Florida's state legislature enacted Senate bill 7066, which requires ex-felons (who have served their sentences) to pay off all outstanding fines, fees, and restitutions before regaining their right to vote.
[15] On April 5, 2007, Florida's Republican Governor Charlie Crist was able to get legislation passed to enable people previously convicted of felony crimes to regain the right to vote if approved by the Parole Commission.
[17] On February 1, 2018, federal judge Mark E. Walker ruled that Florida’s process of choosing which people previously convicted of felony crimes should have their voting rights restored was unconstitutional.
[20] In July 2019, Republicans in Florida's state legislature enacted Senate bill 7066, that declared that felons must pay all outstanding fines, fees and restitutions before they are deemed to have “served their sentence”, and thus regaining their right to vote.
[6] On February 19, 2020, a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit Federal Appeals Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to require felons to first pay off their financial obligations before being permitted to register to vote.
[23][24] In late September 2020, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg put together a fund of over $16 million to be used towards helping convicted felons vote in Florida by paying their outstanding fines and fees.
[10] According to 2016 research by The Sentencing Project:[25] By 2020 the Tampa Bay Times reported that despite the passage of Amendment 4: In Florida a felony is defined as any criminal offense that is potentially punishable by imprisonment in a state correctional facility.