Florida’s Voter Suppression Before the Gubernatorial Race
As the 2022 midterm election begins, most representatives have been bolstering their campaigns. This election is unlike most other elections as the importance is far greater. This is because of the extremely tight race for Congress and governor seats. The governors’ race going into this midterm is a 28/22 split with Republicans having the majority of state executive power. This governor's race has 36 states with ballots for a new governor. One of the most important of these races is in the swing state of Florida. As Gov. Ron Desantis (R) has held power for the last 4 years, he has made himself well-known as a Trump Republican. Desantis is running for reelection against Democrat Charlie Crist. But as election season begins, Ron Desantis has been calling for the arrest of ex-felons for voter fraud.
Last month on August 18, 20 ex-felons were arrested on the charge of voter fraud. This was on the account of Ron Desantis sending police to these people’s homes with warrants for arrest. This was in the backlash of the Florida Amendment 4 and the Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative passed on November 6, 2018, in the same election where Ron Desantis won the governor’s race against Andrew Gillum. This amendment supported restoring the voting rights of Floridians with felony convictions after they complete their parole or probation. This amendment did not apply to Floridians who were convicted of murder or any sexual offenses. The amendment passed overwhelmingly positively with a 64% pass rate. Until this amendment passed, this disenfranchised Floridians from voting, as placing a limitation on ex-felons suffrage directly attacked the voting rights of lower-class and poor individuals. In Florida, this directly harms the voting rights of black Floridians, as their communities are overpoliced leading to more black arrests.
Of the 20 ex-felons accused of voter fraud, a majority were Black. The charge of voter fraud is a 3rd-degree felony which can lead to a 5-year sentence in jail. These ex-felons were not committing this crime with intent, instead, they were told they in fact could vote and were given voter ID cards. One man, Tony Patterson, told officers that he was not only told but encouraged to register to vote by the state DMV. Similar to Mr. Patterson, the other 19 ex-felons had almost the exact same stories. All of these Floridian voter registrations were approved by the state's Division of Elections, then they were all issued voter ID cards by the county’s election supervisors. Now after being told they were allowed to vote in the 2020 election, their state governor, Ron Desantis, is calling for their arrest as he claims these 20 Americans would “pay the price” for voting illegally. Desantis ignores the fact that these Americans were entrapped into believing they could legally vote and were even approved by his state government to vote. This act of aggression on people who have already served many years of their lives in a tight prison cell, for doing the crime of voting.
Desantis in an attempt to push the idea of illegal voting being a serious issue in America has placed the lives of 20 unsuspecting Floridians at risk of losing more time to a jail cell. The simple idea of the government entrapping individuals into voter fraud charges is a crime against our rights. The simple fact that ex-convicts do not have their right to vote in elections is a violation of their rights in the first place. These people deserve to have a chance at rejoining society and should not be punished for being entrapped into committing a crime. Especially as midterms near, Desantis should not be pushing for the arrest of these innocent Floridians.
