Tallahassee Democrat/USA Today Network: Why did voter turnout drop in 2022 versus 2018? Strict voting laws, voter arrests, say voting rights advocates

Tallahassee Democrat/USA Today Network: Why did voter turnout drop in 2022 versus 2018? Strict voting laws, voter arrests, say voting rights advocates

“We know that registered voters with prior convictions and even people who are fully eligible to vote such as people who only have a misdemeanor are concerned or even scared about getting in trouble if they cast their ballots,” said Amy Keith, program director of Common Cause Florida.

TALLAHASSEE — Will Forrester wants to vote, but he’s not sure he’s eligible because of a previous felony conviction — even after Florida voters approved an amendment to allow him and hundreds of thousands of others disenfranchised the right to vote.

An outstanding $965 fine he cannot afford to pay keeps him from immediately registering to vote, but more worrisome for the Orlando man: the fear of being targeted by Florida’s newly created Office of Election Crimes and Security.

“I’d be scared to go vote,” he said, “and I don’t know if I would or not. I don’t want to get into any trouble.”

In August, Gov. Ron DeSantis touted the first arrests caused by his election crimes unit. Its investigation led to voting fraud charges for 20 people. Many of those arrested said they registered and voted because they had been told they were eligible due to changes in voting rights laws for those previously convicted of felonies who completed their sentences.

Most of the cases are pending in local courts, but the arrests prompted a national outcry and caused more confusion about Florida’s voter eligibility laws.

Voting rights advocates and others say the arrests discouraged the tens of thousands of potentially eligible voters with felony records to not take part in midterm elections.

“We know that registered voters with prior convictions and even people who are fully eligible to vote such as people who only have a misdemeanor are concerned or even scared about getting in trouble if they cast their ballots,” said Amy Keith, program director of Common Cause Florida.