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The
conservative-majority high court left in place a July 1 decision
by the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to put
on hold a judge's earlier ruling declaring the law an
"unconstitutional pay-to-vote system" imposed on citizens who
genuinely cannot pay - or even know if anything is owed.
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle's ruling had cleared the way
for potentially hundreds of thousands of Floridians to register
to vote in the key election battleground state ahead of the Nov.
3 election in which President Donald Trump is seeking a second
term in office.
Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena
Kagan dissented from Thursday's decision. Sotomayor wrote in
dissent that the Supreme Court's action prevents thousands of
otherwise eligible voters from casting ballots "simply because
they are poor," adding that the decision "continues a trend of
condoning disfranchisement."
The law was signed last year by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis,
a Trump ally. Voting rights advocates and Democrats have accused
Republicans in a number of states of passing laws aimed at
suppressing the voting ability of groups who tend to support
Democratic candidates.
The 11th Circuit decision effectively halted the voter
registration of former felons who cannot afford to pay the fines
and fees as required under the law to have their voting rights
restored.
A group of Floridians and voting rights organizations sued
DeSantis, arguing the law amounted to an illegal poll tax in
violation of the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal
protection under the law.
Opponents argued the law goes against the wishes of Florida
voters who approved an amendment to the state's constitution in
2018 to grant voting rights to felons who served their time and
were not convicted of murder or sex crimes.
The 11th Circuit put a temporary hold on Hinkle's decision while
it considered an appeal by DeSantis. That action put the rights
of these former felons in limbo for months, well past deadlines
to register to vote in the presidential election.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo said in a statement
after the Supreme Court's action, "Florida Republicans have a
shamefully transparent electoral strategy: voter suppression."
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Additional reporting by Andrew Chung;
Editing by Will Dunham)
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