The voting rights group founded by NBA star LeBron James and other athletes agrees to donate $ 100,000 to help pay outstanding fines and fees for former criminals seeking to vote in Florida.
More than a vote, he plans to make the donation to the Florida Coalition for the Restoration of Rights, an organization that helped push a 2018 ballot measure that restored the former criminal population in the Sunshine State, ABC News reported.
The money will be used to help former criminals pay off pending court debts related to their convictions so they can register to vote.
“We believe that your right to vote should not depend on whether or not you can pay to exercise it,” Udonis Haslem, a Miami Heat forward and member of More Than A Vote, said in a statement.
State Republicans in the Florida House pushed through a law Last April, criminals were required to pay all court fees and costs, in addition to restitution, before they are eligible to vote.
The measure significantly reduced a state constitutional amendment voted by Florida residents during the 2018 election that restored voting rights to approximately 1.4 million ex-convicts.
Critics argued that the bill, signed by the governor. Ron DeSantis
Ronald Dion DeSantisGOP Governors in Texas, Arizona, Georgia, Florida See Approval Sink California, Florida Report Record Numbers of Daily Deaths DeSantis Approval in Managing Coronavirus Subsidence: MORE Survey (R), it was a modern unconstitutional “voting tax” that would keep criminals deprived of their rights.
Several poor criminals, indebted to the court who had otherwise served their sentences, petitioned a federal court to overturn the payment requirement on constitutional grounds.
A federal court of first instance in May invalidated the payment component, ruling that it was illegal to ban access to indigent voting.
Several weeks later, the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to halt the lower court ruling while an appeal was in progress, making it illegal for indebted criminals to register to vote or cast votes.
Last week, the conservative majority Supreme Court declined to review the 11th Circuit ruling.
Three of the most liberal court judges, Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor Progressive groups urge Kavanaugh to withdraw from the Facebook case. Suspect shooting at judge’s house leaves traces of racist and sexist writings Supreme Court denies Democrats’ bid to accelerate ongoing fight over Trump’s financial records MORE, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Wishing Ruth Bader Ginsburg a speedy recovery Ginsburg says he is undergoing chemotherapy due to liver cancer The Supreme Court declines to reinstate the vote of nearly 1 million Florida criminals MORE and Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan Supreme Court refuses to reinstate nearly 1 million Florida criminals vote Supreme Court clears the way for second federal execution Supreme Court lifts second federal execution this week MOREdissenting.
“Under this scheme, almost a million eligible citizens cannot vote unless they pay money,” wrote Sotomayor, who called the policy a “voter payment wall.”
LeBron founded More Than a Vote last month in the wake of global protests over racial inequality and police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd in police custody.
The group aims in part to motivate African Americans to cast votes in the November election.
Other current and former basketball stars are also involved in the effort, including Trae Young, Skylar Diggins-Smith, and Jalen Rose.
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