Democrats have argued that prohibiting ex-felons from voting over unpaid fees or fines is voter suppression
Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg speaks to supporters during a rally held at The Rustic on February 27, 2020 in Houston, Texas. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Michael Scherer, in the Washington Post, explains that"Bloomberg and his team" have raised $16 million for"a program organized by the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition to pay the fines, fees and restitution costs for former prisoners who are already registered to vote in Florida but barred by law from participating in the election because of those outstanding debts."
Bloomberg, who was a Republican during some of his time as mayor of New York City but is now a Democrat, believes that people who were incarcerated in the past shouldn't be forbidden to vote because of fines — and Bloomberg, Scherer reports, saw that $16 million as a"more cost-effective way of adding votes to the Democratic column than investing money to persuade voters who already have the right to vote, a Bloomberg memo said.
Story continuesHowever, the former New York mayor was already helping Biden in Florida before raising that $16 million and helping the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. Bloomberg recently donated at least $100 million to helping Biden in Florida.
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