A controversial initiative to automatically restore civil rights has cleared another hurdle, with the Florida Supreme Court giving a preliminary green light.
Advocates say it’s not fair that ex-felons have to ask the governor to restore their right to vote, a process that can take years, even after they have paid their debt to society.
Their proposed constitutional amendment would not apply to murderers and sex criminals. The Supreme Court review was limited to assuring the ballot language was not misleading and that the measure covered only a single subject.
Advocates have gathered about 70, 000 signatures, far short of the nearly 800,000 they will need to reach the ballot.
