Supreme Court leaves in place Florida ‘pay-to-vote’ law aimed at felons

Supreme Court leaves in place Florida ‘pay-to-vote’ law aimed at felons

The U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C.

Liu Jie | Xinhua via Getty Images

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would not step in to block a Florida law requiring those with felony convictions to pay fines before they may vote, potentially blocking about three-quarters of a million otherwise-eligible voters from the polls. 

The decision was announced in an unsigned order. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan dissented from the decision.

The move will prevent voters from registering for the state's August primary and potentially the upcoming November presidential contest. Those prevented from voting are likely to be disproportionately Black and Democratic, a potential game changer in the swing state. 

"This Court's order prevents thousands of otherwise eligible voters from participating in Florida's primary election simply because they are poor," Sotomayor wrote in dissent. Calling Florida's law a "voter paywall," Sotomayor wrote the court's "inaction continues a trend of condoning disfranchisement."

The case concerned an a 2018 ballot initiative in which voters in the state ended the permanent disenfranchisement of felons who had completed "all terms of sentence including parole or probation."

The legislature defined the phrase the following year to include fines, restitution and other fees. Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican,