U.S. District Judge Nominated by Barack Obama Orders Florida Governor to Restore Voting Rights to Convicted Felons

Another day, another power grab from the bench.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker ordered Florida Governor Rick Scott and the Cabinet to restore voting rights to felons.

Mark Walker was nominated to the federal bench by Barack Obama in 2012.

Florida is a battleground state so this move could help change the state blue.


Florida Governor Rick Scott

The Miami Herald reports:

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee issued a permanent injunction in support of the Fair Elections Legal Network, which sued the state a year ago. The group successfully challenged the constitutionality of the state’s 150-year-old voting rights restoration process for felons in the nation’s third-largest state.

“This is a victory for the principle that the right to vote cannot be subjected to officials’ gut instincts and whims,” said Jon Sherman, senior counsel for the nonprofit voting rights group. “We are also heartened that the court prevented Florida from following through on its threat to be the only state in the nation with an irrevocable lifetime ban on voting for all former felons — what the court called ‘the ultimate arbitrary act.’ 

A spokesman for Scott issued a statement that defended the current system.

“Officials elected by Floridians, not judges, have the authority to determine Florida’s clemency process for convicted felons,” spokesman John Tupps said. “This is outlined in Florida’s Constitution and has been in place for more than a century and under multiple gubernatorial administrations.”

Tupps said Scott — who’s expected to declare his candidacy for U.S. Senate on April 9 — “believes that people who have been convicted of felony offenses, including crimes like murder, violence against children and domestic violence, should demonstrate that they can live a life free of crime while being accountable to our communities.”

Restoring voting rights to convicted felons is a classic move by Democrats in order to permanently entrench their party.

Under Democrat Governor Terry McAuliffe, the state of Virginia restored voting rights to felons in an effort to change another ‘purple’ state to blue.

Florida’s 29 electoral votes and the fact that the state’s pick for president usually dictates the winner of the election makes it prime for the scheming Dems to do whatever they can to increase their chances of winning the sunshine state.

Leftists will do anything to win elections from illegal aliens voting to convicted felons voting.

Read the full report by the Miami Herald here.

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Cristina began writing for The Gateway Pundit in 2016 and she is now the Associate Editor.

You can email Cristina Laila here, and read more of Cristina Laila's articles here.

 

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