Florida Database Would Assist in Voting Rights Restoration

A piece of legislation making its way through the Florida state Legislature would, if it becomes law, establish a database to track the voting rights status of individuals with felony convictions.

According to House Bill 489, the Florida Commission on Offender Review would develop and maintain the database and receive technical assistance from the Department of Management Services via Florida Digital Service.

The idea behind the database is to help those disqualified from voting due to felony convictions — except for murder and felony sexual offenses — by tracking their voting rights status to determine whether they are eligible to have their voting rights restored.

Personal information collected by the database would include:

• Incarcerated people’s names and other personal identifying information   
• The remaining length of any term of supervision, including probation, community control or parole ordered by a court as a part of his or her sentence   
• The remaining amount of any restitution owed to a victim as ordered by a court as a part of their sentence   
• The remaining amount due of any fines or fees that a court initially ordered as a part of his or her sentence or as a condition of any form of supervision, including probation, community control or parole   
• The completion status of any other term ordered by a court as a part of their sentence   

If the bill becomes law, the Department of State, the Department of Corrections, clerks of the circuit courts, county comptrollers, and the Board of Executive Clemency would provide the information listed above to the commission.

The commission would also be required to provide the governor, the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives with a comprehensive plan by July 1, 2026, that includes the following:

• A list of governmental entities and methods by which the commission will collect, centralize, analyze and secure information for the database  
• A description of any infrastructure and services, including software, hardware and information technology services, that may be necessary to create and maintain the database  
• The anticipated number of additional employees to develop and maintain the database  
• The anticipated cost to develop the database, along with annual costs and appropriations to maintain it and fund anticipated costs 

More information about HB 489 can be found online.

This story first appeared in Industry Insider — Florida, part of e.Republic, Government Technology's parent company.