Florida Republicans may be forced to act on voting rights
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - Florida Gov. Rick Scott is calling for an extraordinary late-night meeting of top state officials to respond to a federal court ruling on voting rights.
A federal judge gave Florida until April 26 to create a new process for restoring voting rights to former prisoners. State officials have appealed the ruling and have asked an appeals court to put U.S. District Judge Mark Walker's ruling on hold.
But the appeals court has not acted on the state's request. So Scott scheduled a meeting of the state's clemency board to be held at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
The state's clemency board consists of Scott and three other Republican elected officials including Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Walker ruled Florida's current system of restoring voting rights to former prisoners is flawed.