ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The passage of Amendment 4 was the will of the voters, and it's now the law of the state.
On Jan. 8, over 1.5 million former felons in Florida gained access to the ability to register to vote.
Saturday, the South St. Petersburg Democratic Club, a partisan group, hosted a panel on the implementation of Amendment 4.
Panelists included Neil Volz, political director for Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, Kirk Bailey, political director of ACLU of Florida, Stephanie Owens, a board member of the St Petersburg chapter of the League of Women Voters, Julie Marcus, deputy supervisor of Elections for Pinellas County, and Melanie Paine, a case manager of Pinellas Ex-Offender Re-entry Coalition and a former felon herself.
The message from all panelists was clear.
"If you've completed all portions of your sentence, the crimes that you've committed at some point in your past, you've paid for, were not in those two zones, then you have the constitutional right to vote," explained Volz.
The two zones excluded include felons who were convicted of murder or sexual offenses.
Paine registered to vote on Jan. 8 and has already received her voter information card. A piece of paper she is very proud to own.
"Now to have this chance back means that I'm ready. There's a local election coming up in March, I have my card, I'm on there. And I'm not discriminated against."
It is up to the individual to determine if they are eligible to vote. The felon must have completed the entire terms of their sentence before registering. A self-check that Bailey believes should be simple to handle.
“If you have been released from incarceration, most individuals know that," he said. "Whether or not they have been released from probation. Most individuals know that because there is documentation from corrections offices. Most individuals have a pretty good idea if they owe restitution or other fines. And if they don’t, the clerks of the courts in their respective counties are able to tell them if they owe any financial obligations that relate to their sentence. "So some of those questions are out there, they exist, and they're important they should be answered. But the answers are not hard.”
If a felon is unsure whether they qualify to vote under Amendment 4, they can check a number of resources to find that information.
- Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, (877) 698-6830, https://floridarrc.com
- The County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller where sentenced
- Florida Department of Corrections (where supervised or incarcerated), (850) 488-5021, www.dc.state.fl.us
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