Voting rights trial in Fla. awaits ruling

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — After hearing seven days of testimony, a federal judge on Wednesday began weighing whether Florida Gov. Ron Desantis and other Republican lawmakers were motivated by partisanship when they stipulated that felons must pay all legal debts before regaining their right to vote.

The state’s estimated 774,000 disenfranchised felons represent a significant bloc in a state well known for razor-thin election margins. Many of those felons are black and presumably Democrats.

With the state’s August primary and the November presidential election looming, the judge said there was urgency to his ruling.

During closing arguments Wednesday, lawyers for the plaintiffs asserted that the Republican-controlled Legislature was motivated by race, gender and partisanship when it passed a bill defining what it means to complete a sentence under a 2018 ballot measure known as Amendment 4.

The bill, signed into law by Desantis, requires felons to pay all fines, restitution and other legal financial obligations before their sentences can be considered fully served. Amendment 4 permanently bars convicted murderers and rapists from voting, regardless of debts.

Mohammad Jazil, an attorney for the governor and the secretary of state’s office, said there was no racial animus when the Legislature implemented Amendment 4.

“I do not believe anyone has offered direct evidence of racially discriminatory intent in this case,” Jazil said.

The judge expressed skepticism. “Why is it all the Republicans voted yes, and all the Democrats voted no?” U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle asked. “That was not a coincidence. It would be stunning if somebody told me that they did not realize that African Americans tend to vote Democratic.”