Florida Voting Rights Report - Recommendations

RECOMMENDATIONS

Mass disfranchisement in Florida occurs through operation of Florida law and Rules of Executive Clemency. In addition, de facto disfranchisement occurs when the rules and procedures are not followed due to misinformation and poor administration.

Ultimately, Florida's constitution should be amended to remove this voting ban, which undermines our democracy and does nothing to improve public safety. However, until then, Florida's civil rights crisis can be remedied immediately by taking the following steps:

1. The Governor and Cabinet sitting as the Board of Executive Clemency should take immediate action to reform Florida's felony disfranchisement policy.

The Florida Board of Executive Clemency should adopt changes to the Rules of Executive Clemency to create a streamlined, automatic and paperwork-free civil rights restoration process to ensure that every individual's civil rights are restored immediately upon completion of incarceration (if applicable) and any supervision. This can be accomplished immediately by a vote of the Governor and two additional Clemency Board members. Upon completion of incarceration and supervision, an individual should be able to register to vote by indicating on the voter registration application that his or her rights have been restored.

Significant increases in funding for restoration of civil rights processing and public education and outreach would be necessary for the Office of Executive Clemency and Parole Commission to process RCR cases under the current Rules of Executive Clemency in a timely manner and to provide meaningful RCR information to the public and people directly impacted by Florida's civil rights restoration rules. In the current budget crisis, it is certain that this funding will not be forthcoming. To the contrary, it is likely that the Parole Commission will suffer additional budget cuts for the 2009/10 budget year, as the agency still struggles to operate under its 2008/09 fiscal year cuts.

A process that is straightforward, simple, and paperwork-free will ensure that the civil rights restoration process is fair and evenly administered. It will also eliminate the ineffi cient and costly investigations and other administrative procedures performed by the underfunded Parole Commission, which could instead devote its full attention to its core priorities: post-release supervision, re-entry assistance and victim services.

2. Eliminate Restitution as a Pre-Condition for Voting Rights Restoration.

Approximately 30-40% of individuals with nonviolent offenses found ineligible for restoration of civil rights since April 2007 were ineligible, at least in part, because of unpaid restitution obligations.[15] The Board of Executive Clemency should immediately revise the Rules of Executive Clemency to remove restitution as a precondition for eligibility for restoration of civil rights. While payment of restitution should not be waived, it also should not be tied to voting rights.

This change will actually benefit, not harm, victims who are entitled to restitution. Because RCR is now tied to employment licensing in Florida, removal of this pre-condition will put many individuals who owe restitution in a better financial position to fulfill their obligations. To ensure compensation to victims, we need more effective and targeted payment and enforcement mechanisms, not a restriction that impedes restoration of voting rights and bears no relationship to ensuring victim compensation.

This change will also eliminate what amounts to a poll tax -- tying the right to vote to the ability to pay.

3. Provide Accurate Voting Rights Restoration Information and Training to Elections Officials.

State and county elections officials should receive meaningful annual training about the restoration of civil rights process, the process for restoring people with past felony convictions who become re-eligible to the voting rolls, and the procedures for purging individuals from the voter rolls. This training is particularly important after civil rights restoration rules changes are implemented.

4. Provide Notice and Accurate Information about Voter Eligibility to All Individuals with Criminal Records.

Individuals with felony convictions should be provided accurate information about the restoration of their voting rights at all stages: at the time of sentencing, during incarceration, and upon completion of supervision. This should include a requirement that the standard plea colloquy inform the defendant that he or she loses voting and other civil rights as a consequence of pleading guilty to a felony offense. Further, people convicted of misdemeanors and people in pre-trial detention should be made aware of their right to vote.

5. De-Couple Civil Rights Restoration and Eligibility for State-Issued Occupational Licenses and Other Jobs that Require State Certification.

An individual's right to participate in democracy and regain his or her civil rights has nothing to do with his or her eligibility for an occupational license. Qualified persons should not be blocked from employment just because their civil rights have not been restored.

Regulatory agencies and licensing boards will be more likely to establish criteria relevant to their specific trades that effectively satisfy public safety concerns when civil rights restoration is not tied to employment eligibility. Further, increased employment opportunities for people with past felony convictions should reduce recidivism (and enhance public safety); this could reduce the direct costs of crime as well as costs of re-incarceration. In fact, the November 2006 Final Report of the Governor's Ex-Offender Task Force commissioned by Governor Jeb Bush[16] and the Florida Senate's December 2007 Interim Report[17] both recommended the repeal of laws that condition licensing solely on restoration of civil rights.

As the economy constricts, unemployment rises and jobs become harder to find, it is critical the state take action to eliminate unnecessary employment barriers that do nothing to enhance public safety but have the effect of making it more difficult for qualified people to obtain employment.

6. Governor Crist should issue an Executive Order to Bring Transparency to the Civil Rights Restoration Process.

Governor Crist has committed to bringing integrity and transparency to all executive agencies, and to making the state government open and transparent "like never before".[18] Governor Crist should bring transparency to the RCR process by immediately issuing an executive order requiring the Parole Commission and other executive agencies to release records relating to the RCR process in accordance with the same standards of transparency and timeliness that govern release of non-clemency records.

Secrecy still shrouds the civil rights restoration process. Recent changes authorized by Governor Crist that made the process more transparent for applicants are important, but do not go far enough. The Parole Commission fails or refuses to provide certain information relating to the RCR process in response to requests for records, even when disclosure would not compromise the confidentiality of people seeking RCR, judges, victims or other individuals who provide information during an RCR investigation. Further, even when the Parole Commission releases limited RCR information it is slow in doing so, and underfunding is the stated reason for the delays.

These delays and failures are not surprising because, by law, records relating to the civil rights restoration process are exempt from Florida's Sunshine Law and can be released only with the governor's approval.[19]

As a result, it is nearly impossible for the public to assess how efficiently tax dollars are used to implement the RCR process. Just as an agency cannot use underfunding as an excuse for not providing full and timely responses to public records requests under the Sunshine Law, underfunding should not be an excuse for the public's inability to get timely information about the RCR process.

Release of records that do not disclose individuals' identities will provide much needed transparency to the RCR process. Such an action will give true meaning to Governor Crist's stated commitment to reform the RCR process and increase transparency in government.