Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

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 […]

Drew WilsonJune 14, 2018

The committee backing a 2018 ballot initiative that would automatically restore voting rights to Florida’s nonviolent ex-cons brought in more than $400,000 in contributions last month. Floridians for a Fair Democracy received numerous small-dollar contributions from Floridians, though nearly all the $409,220 raised last month came through just three checks. At the top of the […]

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 […]

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 […]

Drew WilsonDecember 13, 2017

The committee backing a 2018 ballot initiative that would automatically restore voting rights to nonviolent Florida felons brought in more than $1.1 million in contributions in November. November’s $1.16 million haul marked the best fundraising month yet for Floridians for a Fair Democracy, which headed into December with $562,134 on hand. The vast majority of […]

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 […]

Jim RosicaNovember 1, 2017

The main backer of a proposed constitutional amendment that would automatically restore some felons’ voting rights after they complete their sentences says his group now has collected over 750,000 signatures. Desmond Meade, president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, also said on Wednesday that he’s confident the amendment will have a million signatures by year’s end. […]

Peter SchorschOctober 12, 2017

A proposed ballot initiative that would automatically restore some felons’ voting rights after they complete their sentences now has more than 210,000 confirmed petition signatures, according to the Florida Division of Elections. And while that’s just the number of confirmed petition, Desmond Meade, president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, says 600,000 signed petitions have been […]

Peter SchorschAugust 14, 2017

The political committee backing a ballot initiative to automatically restore voting rights to nonviolent felons brought in over $500,000 last month. “Floridians for a Fair Democracy” received $250,000 of the July haul from the American Civil Liberties Union, with another $150,000 coming from the The Advocacy Fund, a San Francisco-based group that funds a variety […]

Jim RosicaApril 20, 2017

The state’s highest court on Thursday gave its approval for proposed state constitutional amendments on voter approval of new gambling and restoring voting rights to ex-cons. But there’s a big ‘if’ before either can be placed on the 2018 statewide ballot—both amendments still need hundreds of thousands of signatures. Moreover, Justices Ricky Polston and R. Fred […]

Tag: Floridians for a Fair Democracy

Koch-backed Freedom Partners endorses voting restoration amendment

Committee backing felon rights restoration raised $400K in May

Let voters decide on felons’ voting rights, advocate says

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

Committee backing voting restoration amendment raises $1.1M in November

Voting restoration amendment has 900,000 signatures

Voting restoration amendment has 750,000 signatures

Voting restoration amendment clears 200,000 signatures

Committee backing felon voting rights amendment adds $500K in July

Supreme Court OKs gambling control, felon voting rights amendments