GOP takes aim at felon voting rights in key 2020 battleground state

Republican lawmakers in Florida are looking to narrow the scope of a sweeping ballot measure that restored the right to vote for people with felony convictions, a move that could potentially impact the state's political climate.

The effort sets up a political fight over the broader issue of felon voting rights -- a showdown in a significant swing state that voted for both Barack Obama and Donald Trump for president.

The dispute centers on Amendment 4, which passed by a wide margin last November, and could particularly affect African Americans, who are disproportionately incarcerated and overwhelmingly identify as Democrats. The measure reinstates the right to vote for a majority of felons who have completed their sentences, including probation, and paid back restitution.

It would exclude those who committed felony sexual offenses or murder.

However, since taking effect in January, the broad reach of the measure, and exactly which felons it applied to, has also raised questions among lawmakers in the state -- and led the GOP-controlled legislature to introduce a pair of bills to steer implementation.

Both the House and Senate proposals would impose conditions before an ex-felon is allowed the right to vote. The bills outline a narrow definition of "completion of all terms of sentence," which would put conditions on outstanding court-ordered fines and fees. It also includes a more expansive definition of people who've committed murder and felony sexual offenses.

"We're trying to kind of clarify throughout the state of Florida what is the intent of the language of the law," Sen. Keith Perry, the chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice subcommittee that passed the bill along party lines, told ABC News. "We are streamlining the process to make sure that the implementation across 67 counties in Florida is done fairly and correctly."

Democrats argue that the proposals are just another way to disenfranchise a new segment of voters -- a population that includes nearly 1.5 million people in the state.

"This isn't just an attempt to gut Amendment 4, but an attempt to ensure former offenders remain on the outskirts of our society," said Andrew Gillum, the Tallahassee mayor who narrowly lost the governor's race last year to Republican Ron DeSantis, in a statement. The legislation, he added, "puts a price on restoring the right to vote. It is unconstitutional and wrong."

DeSantis, now the top Republican in the state, believes the legislature should clarify how the amendment is implemented, according to his communications director, Helen Ferre.

"Governor DeSantis is respectful of the legislative process and continues to review the bills," she said in a statement to ABC News. "While he has not publicly weighed in on the bills, Governor DeSantis has stated that the legislature must provide clarity and structure to be able to properly implement Amendment 4."

Florida is one of several states that have sought to integrate felons into the voting population over the last three years, part of a national trend that includes California, Colorado, Maryland, New York and Wyoming, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe issued an executive order in 2016 to automatically restore voting rights to convicted felons after completing their sentences, but it was overturned by the state's Supreme Court.

The full effect of Amendment 4 won't be known until the 2020 presidential election, which is off to a crowded start in the Democratic field.

A historic 118 million people participated in last year's midterm contests. For the upcoming election, the expectations for voter turnout across the board are even higher, due to one marquee factor: President Donald Trump.

"We just had 100-year high turnout for midterm elections and that's a huge turnaround from 2014 when we had one of the lowest turnout rates in modern elections," McDonald said. "The main factor is Donald Trump and he's not going away. I expect that 2020 we're probably going to see some record turnout rates for modern elections."

Despite the ongoing political debate in Tallahassee, voters in Florida, supplemented by the newly reenfrachised population, could potentially make a big impact on turnout in the 2020 presidential race.

"I'm calling it a 100-year storm," he added.