This month in Florida, courts upheld a law requiring formerly incarcerated people to pay court fees and fines in order to vote -- fines owed by millions of Americans now prevented from voting.
These fines and fees are poll taxes designed to disproportionately impact and disenfranchise low-income people and people of color, who are already targeted and punished by our broken criminal justice system.
Systemic racism and voter disenfranchisement are public health crises. That's why I'm proud to have introduced legislation -- in partnership with my colleague Rashida Tlaib -- to prevent states from barring formerly incarcerated individuals from voting due to debts owed through the criminal justice system and end this poll tax.
Nationally, 30 states restrict the voting rights of Americans who owe debts from their involvement in the criminal justice system, and it's estimated that 10 million Americans owe $50 billion in such debt, depriving many of them of their voting rights. Under my bill, states would be prohibited from requiring payment of court fees and fines as a prerequisite to voting.
As my friend and colleague, Rashida Tlaib said, "This will bring us one step closer to a true democracy for all."
