Criminals are hoping to get a second chance when it comes to their voting rights. Right now, Florida permanently bans voting rights for people convicted of a felony, but one group is hoping to change that.
Neil Volz, with the "Say Yes to Second Chances Campaign", is going to door to door collecting signatures in the hopes of putting this issue on the ballot next time you vote. He says, "The idea that once the debt is paid, it's paid." He goes on to say, "people who are going to benefit in their own personal lives, going to help create safer communities, or make financial sense for the state."
Mike Chionopoulous, an attorney at Absolute Law in Fort Myers doesn't think taking away a convicted felon's right to vote is too harsh for a choice they ultimately made. He says, "Would we rather live in our society where there's no consequences for our actions. We focus a lot on the criminal's rights, but what about the rights of that citizen that they took from their crime." But Chionopoulous says grouping felons together might not be fair, "I would tell you that there's not a one size fits all when it comes to justice, there are extenuating circumstances where that punishment might be too harsh."
Right now, there's only one other way for a felon can cast a ballot, "The only way a felon can have his or her rights restored is through a pardon from the governor," says Chionopoulous.
Relying on a Governor's pardon is why Volz and so many others are racing around the state to get signatures, "This is a true blue, all-american issue, in which people from all walks of life are coming together and working together and moving the state forward."
The group says it still needs 60,000 more signatures before the February 1, 2018 deadline.
