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Florida holds its presidential primary next Tuesday and many felons, recently released from prison, won't be going to the polls. That was supposed to have changed. Last year, Florida Governor Charlie Crist fulfilled a campaign pledge to push through new rules. Felons convicted of non-violent crimes who had served their time would now have their civil rights, including voting rights, automatically restored.
But as NPR's Greg Allen reports, the process is anything but automatic.
GREG ALLEN: It's a Saturday afternoon, and in Miami's Liberty City neighborhood, Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church is a busy place.
(SOUNDBITE OF CROWD)
ALLEN: More than a hundred people filled the church sanctuary and the parish hall. It's a workshop offered by state and local agencies and non-profit groups for former felons.
Many, like 24-year-old Chaz Greene(ph) are here to have their civil rights restored. Greene's a big guy with tattoos, his hair in braids and a gold grill on his teeth. He says he filled out a bunch of forms at the workshop and had to his fingerprints taken for one reason, so he can reclaim the right to vote.
CHAZ GREENE: You should be able to have a right to voice your opinion about who's going to run your country and who's going to set the rules for you and your standards in America. So, you know, voting is very important in our lives.
ALLEN: Workshops like this are held a couple of times per month through out Florida. They become very popular since April, when the process of restoring civil rights of former felons changed. Instead of having to petition the state on a case by case basis, the approximately 3,000 non-violent felons who complete their sentences each month, now have their cases automatically reviewed, and if approved, have their rights restored.
Elton Edwards with the Florida ACLU says the demands for these workshops have been huge. More than a thousand people showed up for one held last year.
ELTON EDWARDS: We basically try to get people back on line because, you know, if a person has a felony conviction, he can't vote, he can't sit on a jury, they can't run for public office. And a lot of times, when it comes to employment, they are discriminated or outright excluded.
ALLEN: Under Florida law, former felons are banned from receiving certain state-issued occupational licenses which has limited their opportunities in fields like heath care and construction.
All these were suppose to change. Disenfranchisement of former felons withholding their right to vote is written into the Florida constitution. It's a principle that dates back to reconstruction. But when he campaigned for governor, Charlie Crist pledged to change the rules that allow for rights restoration, making it easier for felons to regain the right to vote.
Since voting rights is typically a Democratic issue, when the new Republican governor actually did it, even some activists were surprised.
MUSLIMA LEWIS: We can't deny the fact that it was a significant step and it was.
ALLEN: Muslima Lewis heads the Florida ACLU's Voting Rights Project. Although Governor Crist wanted to make restoration of civil rights automatic for non- violent felons who completed their sentences, he faced opposition from others on the state clemency board. The compromised rules that were adapted still lead many obstacles in the ways of rights restoration.
Nine months after the rules changed, Lewis says, as many as 950,000 former felons are still unable to vote.
LEWIS: It's a slow process. It's slow going. And individuals who were initially very encouraged in April of last year are now seeing that it's taking them a bit longer. And with the - of this being an election year, people are getting more and more impatient.
ALLEN: The problem is that after decades of disenfranchisement, the number of former felons who suddenly are eligible to have their rights restored has overwhelmed the system. Florida's parole board says that although some 45,000 people had their restored last year. There's backlog of at least 130,000 former felons who are still waiting for their cases to be reviewed. Lewis says, people applying for rights restoration are being told it will be several months or a year before their cases will be considered.
LEWIS: That's very problematic. And again, this is a big election year and we are concerned about whether folks will actually be getting on the roll in time to vote in November.
ALLEN: The parole board recently received additional funds for rights restoration. Staff there say they're working to process as many former felons as possible before the general election in November.
Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.