MiamiHerald.com | 10/17/2006 | Voting ban for felons could end with next governor
MiamiHerald.com | 10/17/2006 | Voting ban for felons could end with next governor: "Regardless of who becomes governor of Florida in three weeks, one thing now appears certain: The 136-year-old rule that keeps most felons from being able to vote after they have completed their sentences will be scrapped.
Republican Charlie Crist has switched his position and joined Democratic opponent Jim Davis in favoring restoring the civil rights of all felons automatically after they have served their time. Until recently, Crist opposed automatic restoration.
''It all comes down to one fundamental question: Do you believe that an individual has paid his debt to society?'' Crist said Tuesday in an interview with The Miami Herald editorial board. ``If they've really paid their debt to society, then why not restore their right to vote?''
Unlike other promises the candidates have made, undoing the 1870 rule is something a governor can do with a simple signature on an executive order, said Randall Berg, director of the Florida Justice Institute, a civil rights advocacy organization."
