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Florida's ex-offender before the US election: 59 million dollars in debt and no vote

2020-11-02T18:08:33.588Z


A referendum in Florida was supposed to give back the right to vote for convicts. Then the Republicans and Trump-appointed judges stepped in. The former prisoners could still play a decisive role in the election.


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Protest march in Fort Lauderdale: "Let my people vote"

Photo: Marta Lavandier / AP

Karen Leicht was imprisoned for over two years for insurance fraud.

She was released in 2012.

Since then she has fought her way back into society: she found a job as a paralegal.

She has a passport and can travel.

There is only one thing that the 63-year-old is still not allowed to vote for -.

Until recently, Florida was one of the few states where people with a criminal record of felony were not allowed to vote.

A referendum in 2018 changed that, at least on paper.

With a close two-thirds majority, the citizens voted for "Amendment 4", a constitutional amendment that gave convicted criminals - with the exception of murderers and rapists - the right to vote after they had served their sentences.

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Suffrage activist Karen Leicht

Photo: Alexander Sarovic

It was thanks to people like Karen Leicht that the measure received such broad social support.

A criminal record is actually kept secret, she says: "Your family doesn't want anyone to know. You don't want your work colleagues to know."

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Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2020-11-02

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