ATLANTA, Ga. – Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit affirmed the district court ruling in Jones v. DeSantis, finding it unconstitutional to deny people with past felony convictions the right to vote based on their inability to pay fines, fees, and restitution.

The unanimous panel decision upholds the district court’s preliminary injunction of a Florida law which sought to condition voting rights restoration on the payment of restitution, fines, and fees as it applied to the plaintiffs in the case. But the decision goes further in announcing a landmark principle that requiring payment of legal financial obligations as a condition of voting is unconstitutional as applied to those who are genuinely unable to pay.

“We are pleased that the court’s decision today affirms our position that lack of wealth cannot be a barrier to one’s ability to vote,” said Paul Smith, vice president at Campaign Legal Center (CLC). “Two courts have now recognized that Florida can’t deny people the right to vote based on the ability of citizens to pay.”

In its decision, the court held longstanding equal protection principles prohibit wealth discrimination in the context of rights restoration for people with felony convictions, and that the state cannot prevent the plaintiffs from voting based solely on their genuine inability to pay legal financial obligations. The case will proceed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida with a full trial on the merits in Tallahassee on April 6.

On Nov. 6, 2018, voters in Florida passed a constitutional amendment automatically restoring voting rights to people with felony convictions, with certain exceptions. The measure, known as Amendment 4, restored voting rights “upon completion of all terms of sentence, including parole or probation.” It passed by an almost two-thirds margin.

In response to Amendment 4, the state legislature passed a law, which redefined “completion of all terms of sentence” to require full payment of restitution, fines, and fees. Specifically, the law requires repayment of all money ordered by the court “as a part of the sentence or that are ordered by the court as a condition of any form of supervision.” CLC filed a lawsuit challenging the law the same day it was signed, and currently represents three individual plaintiffs who would otherwise be denied the right to vote under SB 7066 because they are unable to pay off their fines and fees: Bonnie Raysor of Boynton Beach, Diane Sherrill of St. Petersburg and Lee Hoffman of Plant City. Campaign Legal Center’s Danielle Lang, along with cooperating counsel Julie Ebenstein of the ACLU, argued the case before the Eleventh Circuit.

The case is called Jones v. DeSantis.

[Click here to read a joint statement on the settlement by North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaeger, Spirit Lake Nation, and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe]

In the wake of the district court’s denial of the State’s motion to dismiss, the Secretary of State has agreed to settle two federal voting rights lawsuits brought by two Native American Tribes and several individual voters over North Dakota’s voter ID law.

The law requires voters to present identification listing their residential street address – a substantial hurdle for many Native Americans living on reservations, because the state has failed to assign residential street addresses to homes on tribal reservations.

In January 2016, eight Native Americans, represented by the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), Tom Dickson and Rich de Bodo filed suit to block the North Dakota voter ID law, which disenfranchised Native American voters and violated both state and federal constitutions as well as the Voting Rights Act.

On October 30, 2018, NARF, Campaign Legal Center (CLC), Robins Kaplan LLP, and Cohen Milstein Sellers and Toll PLLC filed a separate lawsuit on behalf of the Spirit Lake Tribe and six individual plaintiffs to ensure that eligible Native American voters residing on reservations in North Dakota would be able to cast a ballot in the 2018 midterm elections and in all future elections. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, with approximately 5,868 residents of voting-age that could be affected by the law, joined the Spirit Lake case in early 2019.

“This fight has been ongoing for over four years, and we are delighted to come to an agreement that protects native voters,” said Matthew Campbell, attorney for the Native American Rights Fund.  “It has always been our goal to ensure that every native person in North Dakota has an equal opportunity to vote, and we have achieved that today. We thank the Spirit Lake Nation, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and the individual native voters that stood up for the right to vote.” 

"We are pleased with the result of the settlement. It was a breakthrough for the state to recognize its responsibility to ensure that Native Americans have access to the identification needed to exercise their voting rights," said Paul Smith, vice president at CLC. "In order to have a successful 2020 election, the state must follow through with a robust voter and poll worker education campaign to ensure that proper protocols are followed so people aren't rejected because of the state’s failed addressing system."

Backstory

Facing a trial date in the Spirit Lake case in May of this year, the Secretary of State announced an emergency rulemaking last week in an attempt to address some of the issues raised by the lawsuit. At an in-person mediation at the North Dakota capitol on February 6, 2020 with representatives from the Spirit Lake Nation and attorneys from CLC and NARF, the Secretary agreed to take additional steps to ensure that eligible Native American voters are not disenfranchised due to the restrictive voter ID law.

Because of the state’s broken addressing system, many Native Americans living on reservations do not have or do not know their residential addresses, and are therefore unable to comply with the North Dakota voter ID law. During the 2018 election, the Spirit Lake Nation and the Standing Rock Sioux tribe expended substantial resources to ensure that their tribal members would have the identification necessary to vote, including by shouldering the burden of identifying and providing residential street addresses for their members.

The unique burdens faced by Native Americans in North Dakota – including a severe housing shortage – mean that tribal members are much more likely to have moved in the intervening time, or to be homeless or precariously housed. As a result, determining members’ residential addresses – and providing them with the documentation necessary to vote – is an ongoing effort that requires substantial resources.

Details of the agreement

In addition to the previously announced rulemaking, which requires the state to recognize tribal IDs and supplemental documentation issued to tribal members, the Secretary has agreed to enter into a binding consent decree, enforced by a federal court order, which will ensure that Native American voters who do not have or do not know their residential street address are able to vote.

The Secretary of State also agreed to work with the Department of Transportation to develop and implement a program with tribal governments to distribute free non-driver photo IDs on every reservation statewide within 30 days of future statewide elections.

In the 2020 election, Native American voters will have the opportunity to mark their residence on a map, a process that is commonly used by voters in other states. The burden will then shift to the state to verify the residential street addresses for these voters, to provide that information to the voter and the tribe, and to ensure those voters’ ballots are counted.

The court-ordered consent decree will include details about what the state must do to educate the public and train poll workers on the new procedures, as well as measures designed to enable the Tribes to ensure the state is complying with its obligations under the agreement.

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Read the stories of six North Dakota residents that described their challenges accessing the ballot while living on the Spirit Lake Reservation in the days leading up to the 2018 elections.

Joint Statement By North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaeger, Spirit Lake Nation, and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

Today, the Spirit Lake Nation, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, other Plaintiffs, and the North Dakota Secretary of State in Brakebill, et. al v. Jaeger and Spirit Lake et. al v. Jaeger are pleased to announce an agreement in principle to settle these two federal cases and to address the claims related to tribal IDs for voting and other ballot access concerns of the Native American residents in North Dakota.

Last week, Governor Burgum approved the request for emergency administrative rules promulgated by the Secretary of State related to tribal IDs and supplemental documentation for the purposes of voting as well as validation of set aside ballots marked by Native Americans for inclusion in the final vote tally of an election.  During a mediation conducted in-person on Thursday, February 6, 2020, at the North Dakota Capitol, the Plaintiffs and the Secretary of State recognized that the temporary, emergency rules were a first step forward to addressing some of the claims in the two federal lawsuits. At this mediation, the parties agreed to additional terms of settlement aimed at voter protection which will become part of a court-ordered Consent Decree.  The Consent Decree will ensure all Native Americans who are qualified electors can vote, relieve certain burdens on the Tribes related to determining residential street addresses for their tribal members and issuing tribal IDs, and ensure ongoing cooperation through mutual collaboration between the State and the Tribes to address concerns or issues that may arise in the future.

While formal approval of the final agreement by the Spirit Lake Nation’s Council and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s Council will be necessary, the agreement in principal has been signed by legal counsel for the Plaintiffs and for the Secretary of State.  We look forward to the Court’s final action on the Consent Decree and we will be working together on the details outlined in the emergency Rules and on the final agreement to ensure that Native Americans who are qualified electors will be able to vote in 2020 and beyond.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida officials must act now to ensure the state’s online voter registration system (OVR) is secure, stable and free from technical glitches that have previously deprived Florida voters from registering to vote. With the February 18 voter registration deadline approaching, that’s the urgent message in a letter delivered today to state officials [LINK] from eight voting rights groups, who are calling for greater transparency from the State of Florida’s Division of Elections so every voice is heard.

“After more than two years and six written requests for information, state election officials owe the citizens of Florida answers,” said Brad Ashwell, State Director for All Voting is Local-Florida and The Leadership Conference Education Fund. “Voters deserve a stable, secure voter registration system and that includes an online system that works, including when the volume is high as we expect it to be this election cycle. The system went down in 2018, we can't let that happen in 2020.”

Since September 2017, advocates have made repeated requests urging Florida’s Secretary of State’s office to make public its plan for preventing and resolving problems with the state’s online voter registration system. Those Florida Sunshine Law requests, though formally submitted and paid for, have been largely ignored.  

With Florida’s March 17 Presidential Preference Primary fast approaching and record turnout expected this election year, the groups expressed alarm that the state may be unable to handle an influx of registrants.

"Florida must act quickly to ensure that past mistakes with the state's online voter registration system are not repeated," said Jonathan Diaz, voting rights counsel at Campaign Legal Center (CLC). "Democracy works best when every voice is heard and all eligible voters participate. No voter should be silenced because requests to resolve technical problems have been ignored."

“No voter should be silenced because the state can’t do its job,” said Micah Kubic, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida. “If problems occur, we urge officials to have a plan in place to extend the voter registration deadline beyond February 18 so all voters can make their voices heard.” 

In the 2018 election, Florida’s online voter registration system broke down at precisely the moment it was needed most – the high-volume days just before the voter registration deadline. Issues arose in July 2018, just before the book closing for the statewide primary election, and on October 8, 2018 – the day before the October 9th general registration deadline as Hurricane Michael approached.

“The public deserves not only a secure functional and accessible registration system, but also the assurance that state leaders are committed to the core principles of our democracy, including transparent communication with the public and support for free, fair, and secure elections,” said Anjenys Gonzales-Eilert, Executive Director for Common Cause Florida. 

The letter submitted Thursday to state officials by voting rights organizations urges state officials not to wait for another problem to arise before they act. 

“The February 18 primary deadline is fast approaching. Officials can and must act now to avoid another debacle,” said Patti Brigham, President of the League of Women Voters of Florida. “The recent voting fiasco in Iowa’s Democratic presidential primary is a fresh reminder that Florida officials must be proactive in addressing these issues.”  

“This election year, voters are motivated to turn out. They deserve to have confidence in their registration system so they can be assured their voices will be heard,” said Ashwell “Florida’s Secretary of State must take steps now to avoid the problems voters in Florida as well as other states have confronted close to registration deadlines.”

The letter delivered today was signed by: Campaign Legal Center (CLC), The ACLU of Florida, All Voting is Local-Florida, American Oversight, Common Cause Florida, Fair Elections Center, Florida League of Women Voters, The Lawyers’ Committee, Leadership Conference Education Fund and New Florida Majority(?).