‘We refuse to let Florida hold democracy hostage by denying ex-felons a right to vote | Opinion

The late John Lewis said, “Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself.”

When I launched FreeAmerica in 2015, people knew about the problem of felony disenfranchisement in Florida, but the legal battles seemed insurmountable. Despite evidence that felony disenfranchisement is rooted in 19th-century Jim Crow efforts to deny Black men the right to vote, courts have allowed these laws to stand. Before Amendment 4 passed in 2018, people with felony convictions would have to appeal to the governor and Clemency Board to regain their voting rights. After two decades advocating for change within the courts and governors’ offices, the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and other civil-rights groups drafted Amendment 4 to take the issue directly to Florida voters.

Amendment 4 is the ballot initiative that restored voting rights to 1.4 million returning citizens in Florida. I was an early supporter and joined forces with Desmond Meade and his team on the ground in Orlando to fight for it. Ultimately nearly two-thirds of Florida voters agreed that the state is stronger with returning citizens participating in our democracy and deciding what kind of future we will have.

A year later, I went back to Miami to see Amendment 4 implemented. Sitting between Meade and the state attorney, I watched a special court session where people could get their sentences modified and get their voting rights back for the first time. The circuit judge overseeing the solemn event noted that it was a day on which we were celebrating what it means to be an American.

I wish the story ended there, on that high note, but democracy deniers sit in some of our nation’s highest offices and continue to make up new rules to serve their own interests.

Today, the rule in Florida is that anyone with fines and fees from their conviction has to pay them in full before they can go to the polls. This rule is blatant voter suppression. By way of example, one of the plaintiffs, Bonnie Raysor, owes $5,000 in fines and fees for a past felony conviction. She makes a monthly payment of $30, but she won’t be able to pay off her full balance and vote until 2031. I don’t see how that is any different than the poll taxes of the Jim Crow era. The 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution expressly prohibits poll taxes, but here we are in 2020 with a pay-to-vote scheme that could keep 774,000 people just like Raysor from the polls.

Democracies must be defended and it is time for all of us to take a stand.. That is why I have been using my resources and connections to help pay the fines and fees of returned citizens so they are eligible to vote this year. No one should have to wait decades before being able to vote or have to choose between putting food on the table or paying to vote.

And just as the public backed Amendment 4, they are raising their voices again. This week, we raised nearly $25 million to pay the fines and fees of tens of thousands of returned citizens so they are eligible to vote in this November’s election. Nearly 80,000 individuals from every state — some contributing as little as $3, others contributing more than $1 million — are coming together to send a strong message: You cannot hold democracy hostage.

And just like clockwork, some people are questioning if the public is allowed to help pay these debts.

Democracy deniers are pernicious, but democracy champions are fearless and relentless. We know about what Lewis called “Good Trouble.” We will find a way forward so that every citizen can use their vote as their voice so that more Floridians can help chart the direction of this nation’s future.

While historians may look back at this moment and criticize the courts for allowing a pay-to-vote system, I hope they will also tell the story of how people across the country came together to extend and protect our democracy.

That is a story we can be proud of. Democracy is not a state. It is an act. Time to practice.

Award-winning singer John Legend is a long-time supporter of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and Amendment 4.