Florida jailers must hand out voter registration info
Reuters reports: Florida jailers must give felons the applications they need to get their voting rights back before releasing them from prison, a court ruled on Wednesday in the latest election-year battle over Florida voting rules.
Florida is one of only seven states that does not automatically restore voting rights to felons once they have finished their sentences. To get the vote back, released felons must petition a clemency board headed by the governor.
The 1st District Court of Appeal ordered the state Department of Corrections to give soon-to-be released prisoners all the forms needed to obtain a clemency review and to help them fill the papers out if asked.
Florida law already required that, and voting rights advocates sued to have it enforced in 2001. They argued that many former felons had no idea the clemency process was needed before voting, or how to start it. -- Florida Must Help Prisoners Regain Vote, Court Says (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
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