Another cash infusion to the tune of $16 million is pouring into Florida from billionaire Mike Bloomberg, who pledges to pay the court fines and fees of nearly 32,000 Black and Hispanic convicted felons who have been hindered from voting.
Bloomberg hopes the initiative will remove the red tape for the approximately 1 million felons in Florida, who, if allowed, would likely vote Democrat in the upcoming election.
“We know to win Florida we will need to persuade, motivate and add new votes to the Biden column,” according to a Bloomberg memo, the Washington Post reported. “This means we need to explore all avenues for finding the needed votes when so many votes are already determined.”
“The data shows that in Florida, Black voters are a unique universe unlike any other voting bloc, where the Democratic support rate tends to be 90%-95%,” the memo continued.
The state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, previously signed a bill which stipulates that felons must pay all fines, restitution, and other legal financial obligations before their sentences could be considered fully served, and allow them to participate in voting.
Activists and legal experts have said the bill disproportionately blocks Blacks and poor constituents from voting, but a court ruling in early September upheld the legislation. The issue is made even more pressing by the upcoming elections in November, particularly because Florida, with its Republican-held legislature, is a key battleground state, with 29 electoral votes up for grabs…
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