Their endorsement of the nationwide policy coincides with a federal appeals court in Florida considering whether the state can require former felons to pay hundreds to thousands in legal fees before having their right to vote restored, something advocates say amounts to a poll tax on poor people.
“The American Bar Association urges federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to: repeal laws that disenfranchise persons based upon criminal conviction… [and] assure that no person convicted of crime is disenfranchised because of nonpayment of a fine, court costs, restitution or other financial obligations imposed as a result of a criminal conviction,” the resolution read.
The proposal was introduced and approved at the ABA’s annual meeting on August 3 and 4. It’s unclear if the ABA will take any additional actions to compel governments to repeal these laws.
Newsweek contacted the ABA for comment.
In 2018, Florida voters approved Amendment 4, a ballot measure restoring voting rights to state residents with felony convictions—except murderers and sex criminals—who completed their prison terms, parole and probation.
However, in May 2020, the Republican-led legislature passed a bill requiring that all former felons pay any remaining legal fees before their voting rights could be restored. Although a Florida federal court called the bill unconstitutional, a federal appeals court stayed the court’s ruling to hear arguments.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. In their dissent, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan wrote that the Florida bill “prevents thousands of otherwise eligible voters from participating in the Florida primary simply because they are poor.”
According to the National Conference of State Legislature (NCSL), in 11 states felons lose their voting rights indefinitely for some crimes or require a governor’s pardon to restore their voting rights after they’ve completed their prison sentences. Often these former felons must wait for a span of time, even after serving parole and probation, or take additional actions before having their voting rights restored.
Twenty-one states deprive felons of their voting rights while incarcerated and during parole, probation or for a span of time following their sentence, but their voting rights are automatically restored after that time period.
In the 32 states mentioned above, former felons often have to pay outstanding fines, fees or restitution before they can vote again.
In 16 other states and the District of Columbia, felons can’t vote while incarcerated, but their voting rights are automatically restored upon release. And in Main and Vermont, felons never lose their right to vote, even while incarcerated.
