FLORIDA, November 3, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Almost 13,000 ex-felons may be joining the voter rolls in Florida this year thanks to a group of wealthy liberals paying $27 million in fines and legal fees, in what appears to be a push to expand the pool of likely voters for Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Michael Bloomberg, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Ariana Grande, and other celebrities helped raise the money via the nonprofit Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, the Tampa Bay Times reports. The initiative follows the restoration of felons’ voting rights two years ago in the state, with the condition that ex-cons must settle all conditions of their sentence beforehand, such as fines and fees.
But the initiative, which could lead to up to 12,800 ex-felons having registered to vote this year, appears to be skewed to benefit Democrat candidates. The Times found that 74% of the felons whose fees were paid off were black (a demographic group that overwhelmingly votes Democrat), and 68% were registered Democrats. It is unknown how many of the beneficiaries took advantage or were even made aware of their newfound ability to vote.
In response, Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis directed state Attorney General Ashley Moody to have state police and the FBI investigate whether the payments constitute an illegal inducement to vote. The FBI has declined to comment, and state police have said only that the referral is a “preliminary inquiry” and not yet an investigation.
Florida is considered a must-win state for President Donald Trump, who won it by 119,770 votes in 2016. This year, RealClearPolitics rates Florida a toss-up. Democrats narrowly cast more early votes than Republicans in the state, but reports indicate Florida Republicans are outpacing Democrats in Election Day turnout.