Social Justice

Michael Bloomberg pays fines for 32,000 felons in Florida so they can vote

Michael Bloomberg has reportedly raised more than $16 million in an effort to help convicted felons in Florida register to vote.

Published

4 years ago

September 23, 2020

Unheard Voices Staff

Michael Bloomberg (Photo by Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michael_Bloomberg_(48603885246).jpg)

Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has reportedly raised more than $16 million in an effort to help pay the fines for convicted felons in Florida register to vote.

The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition estimated Bloomberg’s fundraising efforts has already paid off monetary obligations for 32,000 felons, Axios reported.

“The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy and no American should be denied that right,” a Bloomberg spokesperson told the news outlet.

“Working together with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, we are determined to end disenfranchisement and the discrimination that has always driven it.”

Florida passed a law in 2018 restoring voting rights for felons that dictated they could register only if they pay all fines, fees and restitution – sometimes totaling more than $1,000 – owed to the government.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Florida, last week ruled to uphold the law.

----------------------------------------------------------
Connect with Unheard Voices on X, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube

Download the app on Google Play or ITunes.
----------------------------------------------------------
Unheard Voices Magazine is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

Related Topics:Florida voting voting rights

Up Next

Grand Jury indicts former Louisville officer for wanton endangerment in Breonna Taylor fatal shooting case

Don't Miss

Nebraska Bar Owner Set to Turn Himself In Over Fatal Shooting of Protester Dies By Suicide

Unheard Voices Staff

Unheard Voices is an award-winning news magazine that started in 2004 as a newsletter in the Asbury Park, Neptune, and Long Branch, NJ areas to broadening into a recognized Black online media outlet. The company is one of the few outlets dedicated to covering social justice issues. They are the recipient of the NAACP Unsung Hero Award and CV Magazine's Innovator Award for Best Social Justice Communications Company.