[JURIST] Florida voters will have an opportunity to vote [petition form text, PDF] on an amendment to the state constitution [text] that would automatically restore voting rights to felons once they complete their sentences after election officials certified petition signatures Tuesday.

Currently, Article VI Section 6 of Florida’s constitution, the section which governs disenfranchisement, states that “[n]o person convicted of a felony … shall be qualified to vote or hold office until restoration of civil rights.” This provision makes Florida one of four states [Brennan Center backgrounder] that permanently disenfranchises citizens with past felony convictions. In order to have their voting rights restored, convicted felons must send an application to the Office of Executive Clemency (OEC) [official profile] who will determine if the felon is eligible to have their rights restored. The board of the OEC meets once every three months to hear about 100 petition cases.

According to the Brennan center, only 2,000 applications have been approved between 2011 and 2015, while more than 20,000 applications are still pending. In roughly the same time frame, the total number disenfranchised peoples living in Florida rose by almost 150,000, bringing the total disenfranchised population to approximately 1.6 million.

As of today, Florida has the highest disenfranchisement rate in the country.

If the amendment is approved Article VI Section 6 will provide that “any disqualification from voting arising from a felony conviction shall terminate and voting rights shall be restored upon completion of all terms of sentence including parole of probation.” This provision will not include those convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense. Reports indicate [Huffington Post report] that, if it passes, this amendment will expand the right to vote to some 1.5 million people.

Florida Second Chances, the movement to have the amendment appear on the ballot in November, was initiated by Floridians for a Fair Democracy [official website], a voting right advocacy group. To get the matter on the ballot, the group had to collect a minimum of 766,200 signatures in support of the petition. The ultimately collected 1.1 million signatures.
To pass, the proposed amendment will have to receive 60 percent of the vote.