Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Jacob OglesDecember 3, 2018

Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum will speak in Washington, D.C., at a conference on civil rights. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights hosts its “Bend Toward Justice” gathering in the nation’s capital on Tuesday. Gillum will participate in a conversation with The Beat DC co-founder Tiffany Cross. The event shows some of […]

Danny McAuliffeNovember 2, 2018

During a ceremony honoring the newly unveiled Civil Rights Institute at Florida State University, Desmond Meade, activist and spokesperson for the push to restore felon voting rights in Florida, told the audience that the next civil rights milestone is just days away. “Tick, tock,” refrained Desmond Meade, who also serves as the president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. […]

Drew WilsonOctober 8, 2018

The committee sponsoring the “Voting Restoration Amendment,” which would restore voting rights to Florida felons who have completed their sentences, added more than $600,000 to its coffers during the last full week of September. Floridians for a Fair Democracy, which led the drive to get Amendment 4 on the ballot, received 138 contributions for the […]

Peter SchorschSeptember 14, 2018

The Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, chaired by Koch Industries VP Mark Holden, said Thursday that it was behind a 2018 ballot amendment that would restore voting rights to non-violent felons who have completed their sentences. “We believe that when individuals have served their sentences and paid their debts as ordered by a judge, they […]

Jacob OglesAugust 12, 2018

Supporters rallied this weekend in Orlando behind a ballot initiative to restore voting rights for ex-felons. The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition held its Second Chances Convening Thursday through Saturday at the Rosen Centre Hotel, where hundreds of supporters gathered around Amendment 4, a measure set to appear on the November ballot statewide. “Through the hard […]

Staff ReportsApril 25, 2018

The man behind a proposed constitutional amendment to restore ex-cons’ voting rights wants voters — not “politicians” — to decide the issue. Desmond Meade, who’s backing this year’s “Voting Restoration Amendment,” on Wednesday said an appellate court should issue a “stay” in a separate but related federal lawsuit on restoring felons’ voting rights. The proposal, which […]

Ana CeballosFebruary 1, 2018

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A federal judge on Thursday said the system used by the state to vet which ex-felons get to have their voting rights restored is unconstitutional. “Florida’s vote-restoration scheme is crushingly restrictive,” U.S. District Judge Mark Walker wrote in a 43-page ruling. “The scheme crumbles under strict scrutiny because it risks — if not covertly authorizes […]

Ana CeballosJanuary 23, 2018

Florida is home to more than 1.5 million citizens who can’t cast a vote in elections unless granted clemency by Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet. But that could change in November. State election officials on Tuesday verified that the constitutional amendment that would automatically restore the voting rights of convicted felons—except for those convicted […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 16, 2018

The committee hoping to put a constitutional amendment on the 2018 ballot that would automatically restore voting rights to nonviolent Florida felons is inching closer to the signature quota required to place an amendment on the ballot. Floridians for a Fair Democracy says it submitted more than 1.1 million signatures to various supervisors of elections during the […]

Jim RosicaNovember 29, 2017

The main backer of a proposed constitutional amendment that would automatically restore some felons’ voting rights after they complete their sentences told Florida Politics his effort now has collected over 900,000 signatures. “Knowing that we set the goal of collecting 1 million, the fact that we are less than 100,000 petitions away from our goal […]

Tag: Desmond Meade
Crowds gather to see Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. (Gabrielle Russon)

Andrew Gillum to speak at Washington civil rights conference

Felon rights restoration leader sees impending election as countdown to ending ‘Jim Crow’ policy

Billionaires, Ben & Jerry’s back felons’ rights amendment

Koch-backed Freedom Partners endorses voting restoration amendment

Second Chances organizers rally around restoring voting rights

Let voters decide on felons’ voting rights, advocate says

Judge rules Florida’s voter-restoration process is unconstitutional

Initiative that would restore felons’ voting rights qualifies for 2018 ballot

Felon voter restoration initiative close to making 2018 ballot, supporters say

Voting restoration amendment has 900,000 signatures