Florida with the help of Republican judges is preventing ex-felons in the state from voting without paying their fines and court costs.
And Mike Bloomberg is donating money to the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, which will pay fines for ex-felons who want to vote. Orlando Sentinel:
Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody is asking federal and state law enforcement to investigate Michael Bloomberg’s donations to pay off the fines and fees of felons in Florida so they can vote in the upcoming election.
Moody wrote to the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Wednesday saying she reviewed a Washington Post article detailing that Bloomberg has raised $16 million to help felons vote in Florida, as well as state laws prohibiting inducements to vote a certain way.
“After preliminarily reviewing this limited public information and law, it appears further investigation is warranted,” Moody wrote. “Accordingly, I request your agencies further investigate this matter and take appropriate steps as merited.”
Moody may be walking into a trap.
As we reported earlier, Florida does not have a statewide database of court fines and discovering what an ex-felon actually owes has proven to take literally years.
Florida's maximum statute of limitations on debt collection is five years. And there are federal and state laws regarding debt collection that can be brought up by Bloomberg's army of attorneys, as well.
