Story.
So this election is shaping up to be a referendum on certain things.
TAMPA — During his four years as governor of Florida, U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist restored the right to vote for hundreds of thousands of felons, a sweeping move subsequent Florida governors, Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis, didn’t follow.
As a gubernatorial hopeful for 2022, Crist said he’s renewing his push for felon voter restoration as part of a broad package to promote criminal justice and equality for Floridians of color.
Crist announced the plan Monday at the George Edgecomb Courthouse in Tampa. He said he aims to overhaul a criminal justice system that has failed people, especially Black people and other minorities.
“For too long we have focused on incarceration when we should be focusing on rehabilitation, forgiveness and restoring and rebuilding,” Crist said.
If elected governor next November, Crist said he’d support a state law allowing felons who committed non-violent crimes to have their voting rights restored automatically upon release. He pointed to the support for Amendment 4 in 2018, which called for non-violent felons who completed “all terms” of their sentences to have their voting rights restored.
More than two thirds of voters approved the amendment, yet Florida’s Legislature passed a bill months later that required felons to first pay off all court fees, fines and restitution costs.
“Floridians should not be forced to have to pay to get their rights back,” Crist said.
So this election is shaping up to be a referendum on certain things.