Floridians think felons shouldn't have to jump through hoops to have their voting rights restored, according to polling commissioned by the Secure Democracy Foundation.
The Tyson Group Poll asked likely general election voters whether the state should set up an easily accessible database for felons to check if they are eligible to become voters and found the concept was supported by 68% of those polled, with just 12% opposed.
The polling indicates more voters support clarity on the implementation of the rights restoration process than voted for it (64.5%) when it appeared on the 2018 ballot as Amendment 4. Additionally, 60% of those polled said Florida citizens with felony convictions should regain their voting rights "when they are no longer incarcerated."
After the amendment passed five years ago, lawmakers passed an implementing bill that gatekept suffrage behind the payment of court fines, fees and restitution. Florida courts agreed with lawmakers that the ballot language specifying restoration would only be granted to felons who had completed "all terms of their sentence" meant satisfying those financial obligations.
However, the implementing bill did not set up any statewide system for felons to see whether they had any outstanding court debts or if the crime they were convicted of made them ineligible even if those debts had been paid — the amendment carved out people with murder or sexual assault convictions.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has put the onus on felons and county Supervisors of Elections to determine whether a felon qualifies for voting rights restoration and created a law enforcement agency to prosecute ineligible voters even if their local Supervisor allowed them to register.
Despite the desire for clarity, 74% of voters say it is vital that the state spend tax dollars to investigate and prosecute suspected voter fraud. The support comes despite 49% of those polled saying they did not believe there was either no voter fraud in 2020 or so little of it as not to matter.
A further 28%, including 49% of Republicans, said major fraud impacted the results — former President Donald Trump won Florida convincingly — while 11% of voters said there was "significant fraud, but it had no impact on the results."
The same poll also measured voter trust in elected officials, finding broad support for poll workers (75%-5%) and county Supervisors of Elections (73%-8%). A majority also trust lawmakers (54%-20%) and the Governor (52%-37%).
A plurality of voters said they were "not sure" whether they trusted Secretary of State Cord Byrd, who oversees the Division of Elections. Byrd did fare well among those who expressed an opinion, however, with 40% saying he is trustworthy and 15% saying he is not.
The Tyson Group poll was conducted Nov. 27-29. It had a sample size of 1,000 likely General Election voters and a margin of error of +/-2.95 percentage points.
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