LeBron James and Michael Bloomberg helped pay $27 million in fines and fees to help felons in Florida vote

Stay connected via Google News

Follow us for the latest updates from Unheard Voices

Nearly 13,000 Florida felons could now be eligible to vote after a push to pay their court fines and fees.

But many still don’t know they can legally cast a ballot.

LeBron James teamed up with former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg to help ensure that felons in Florida will be able to vote.

“The multimillion-dollar effort by Michael Bloomberg, LeBron James and other celebrities to pay off lingering court fines and fees for Florida felons could make almost 13,000 of them eligible to vote in Tuesday’s election, an analysis by the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald and ProPublica found,” wrote Lawrence Mower and Langston Taylor of the Tampa Bay Times.

Other high-profile personalities who gave hefty donations include Michael Jordan and Ariana Grande.

Florida could end up being the state that decides whether President Donald Trump wins a second term or Joe Biden becomes the 46th president of the United States.

“Across the state, where the coalition used contributions from celebrities and other donors to pay about $27 million in fines and fees for about 40,000 felons, that pattern could translate to about 12,800 eligible voters if the proportion is consistent and they don’t owe other court debts,” wrote Mower and Taylor.

In 2018, the constituents of the Sunshine State voted to allow felons to exercise their constitutional right to vote in elections.

However, earlier this year, the state legislature amended the law and required that felons pay all outstanding fines and fees to be legally allowed to vote.