Disenfranchise them, then arrest them: the Ron DeSantis story
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One problem with the anti-anti Trump theory that Democrats have some kind of obligation to help Ron DeSantis win the Republican nomination is that they have no ability to do that. The even more critical problem with the theory is that DeSantis is an authoritarian fucko who’s no better than Trump:
When Romona Oliver registered to vote in early 2020 at the Hillsborough Tax Collector’s office, she was asked if she had a felony conviction. She said yes.
The women helping her with the form submitted it, Oliver said. She said she was never asked specifically if her right to vote had been restored.
Oliver, a Tampa resident, had recently been released from a women’s prison in Florida after serving a 20-year sentence for second-degree murder.
In the last few months of her time in prison, Oliver said she’d read about Amendment 4, a constitutional amendment approved by about 65% of Floridians in 2018, which restored the voting rights of most felons who had completed all terms of their sentence.
No one told her she didn’t qualify under Amendment 4; the law doesn’t apply to those with sex offenses or murder charges. She registered as a Democrat and got her voter card in the mail.
In the 2020 presidential election, she voted. It was the first time Oliver, 55, ever did.
“It was exciting for me because I felt like after all that time, I want to get out and try to do the right thing,” she said. “Give back to the community.”
On Thursday morning, Oliver was arrested on a charge of voting as an unqualified elector and false affirmation. That afternoon, Gov. Ron DeSantis touted the arrests of 20 people, Oliver included, who had voted despite having a felony conviction for murder or a sex offense. Those arrested spanned five different counties: Hillsborough, Orange, Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade.
“That is against the law and now they’re going to pay the price for it, so they will be charged,” DeSantis said.
Nullifying the will of the voters to disenfranchise people again, and then trying to imprison people for making an honest mistake — the ultimate MAGA Republican.
What DeSantis is doing here may be the most cynical, antidemocratic, & nakedly destructive of people’s lives maneuvers I can think in recent US politics. Beyond any politics, it’s just so horrible & tragic to these people. https://t.co/HK8E7jqrAi— Taniel (@Taniel) August 20, 2022