More Than A Vote said it will donate $ 100,000 to the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition fund for Floridians who struggle to pay the outstanding fees and fines associated with their felony convictions before registering to vote.
“This is a fight over denial of his constitutional right to vote,” James, the NBA champion and former Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat star who now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, tweeted Friday.
“We believe that your right to vote should not depend on whether or not you can pay to exercise it,” Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem, who is also a member of More Than A Vote, said in a press release on Friday. “That is why More Than A Vote is proud to partner with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition to ensure that previously incarcerated American citizens, many of them black and brown, can pay their outstanding fines and fees and register to vote. in the 2020 Election and beyond. “
The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition executive director said the association “will improve lives and strengthen our democracy.”
“FRRC is delighted to partner with More Than A Vote to help returning citizens of Florida pay their fines and fees, complete their sentences and move on with their lives,” said Desmond Meade.
The announcement comes as the NBA and WNBA have been in Florida preparing for the restart and start of their respective seasons. On the Saturday before the first game of the season, the WNBA dedicated its 2020 season to Breonna Taylor and the Say Her Name movement.
More Than A Vote, along with Magnolia Pictures and Participant, will also feature an online screening of “John Lewis: Good Trouble,” a documentary about the life of the late American congressman and civil rights icon. Proceeds from the evaluation will go directly to the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition “Fines and Fees Program”.
More than a million Floridians with previous felony convictions regained their voting rights with a constitutional amendment passed in November 2018.
Amendment 4, which allowed convicted criminals who completed “all the terms of the sentence” the right to vote, was approved with almost 65% of the votes, exceeding the threshold of 60% required.
Florida Rights Restoration Coalition was one of the authors of Amendment 4 and lobbied for it to be included on the ballot.
After Amendment 4 went into effect in January 2019, the Republican Party-led Florida Legislature passed and Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill clarifying “all terms of the sentence” to include legal financial obligations such as fines, fees, and restitution.
The law was quickly challenged in court by voting rights advocates who argued that the law amounted to a “voting tax.”
A United States District Judge ruled in May that Floridians with previous felony convictions cannot be barred from voting because they still owe court fines or fees they cannot pay. A federal appeals court in Atlanta blocked the judge’s order this month, keeping the law in effect. A hearing in the case is scheduled for August 18, the same day as the Florida primary.
Following the death of George Floyd, James and other athletes formed More Than A Vote in June, with the goal of protecting black voting rights. NBA stars Trae Young and Draymond Green, WNBA star Skylar Diggins-Smith, and former NBA star and current commentator Jalen Rose are some of the other athletes involved in More Than A Vote.
More Than A Vote has also partnered with Fair Fight, an organization launched by Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams that advocates for fair elections.
CNN’s Kelly Mena contributed to this report.
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