In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law Friday evening Senate Bill 7066, undercutting much of the promise of what reporter Lawrence Mower of the Tampa Bay Times calls “last year’s historic Amendment 4.” The constitutional amendment, which restored voting rights to former felons, required 60-percent voter approval, ultimately passing last fall with a 64.5 percent “yes” vote.
Earlier, many Floridians celebrated the amendment’s passage, which restored voting rights to an estimated 1.4 million Floridians who had completed their prison sentences. Before passage, it was estimated that “more than one in five black Floridians were ineligible to vote” because they had served time for felony convictions.