The Field: The Fight For Voting Rights in Florida

[0] Let me get my call.

[1] Okay.

[2] Okay, yes, man. This is a whole separate line right there.

[3] And that's true that you're relevant.

[4] Florida.

[5] Oh, I see him.

[6] He's actually out there talking to someone, trying to get them to sign up.

[7] Hey, I see you.

[8] I see you out there.

[9] I think you already started to work.

[10] That's good.

[11] Yeah, yeah.

[12] While waiting on you, I just took an opportunity to come over here and try to get you sick.

[13] Ah, no problem.

[14] Okay, we'll walk to where you are right now.

[15] All right.

[16] Okay.

[17] So while he was waiting on us, he was trying to register somebody.

[18] Yeah, he went ahead and started work.

[19] From the New York Times, this is the field.

[20] I'm Nick Casey in Florida.

[21] Oh, yeah, and they're going to report it from New York Times.

[22] Hey, I feel, me, man. Maybe fond of my walking can't be interested in what I do and border restaurants and everything, right?

[23] Boom, bro.

[24] So earlier this year, daily producer Rachel Quester and I went down to Gainesville.

[25] They're putting together a podcast or whatever you know about.

[26] Because after decades.

[27] of restricting former felons from voting.

[28] One of the few states to do so.

[29] In late 2018, the state passed an amendment called Amendment 4, which automatically restored a person's voting rights at the end of their sentence.

[30] And overnight, it added nearly one and a half million new eligible voters to the ranks.

[31] We went to meet Julius Irving, who works for a group that was trying to get this new voting population registered ahead of the November election.

[32] I'm a convicted felon, bro.

[33] Listen, though, listen, though.

[34] That's good, right?

[35] And you said that all the time, bro, Amendment 4 got passed in 2018, but convicted felon can actually vote now.

[36] Yeah, that's, they don't tell you the whole, the whole thing.

[37] Okay.

[38] You have to go through clemency and all that.

[39] That's how used to be.

[40] But when Amendment 4 got passed, it made it was automatic.

[41] At the end of your sentence, you automatically get your rights restored, right?

[42] And Florida was one or four states left out of 50 states, so it was the other state that did it already.

[43] And Florida was one or four states, that permanently barred felon, you had to go to the clemency process.

[44] But in 2018, November 2018, that law got eradicated.

[45] And now, one point four, me, convicted felon can vote now, bro.

[46] There's so many walking around still thinking that, bro.

[47] Yeah.

[48] We came to Gainesville because the city is about a quarter of black in a state where one -fifth of African -Americans have felony convictions right now.

[49] Florida is also, of course, swing state, a state that has in the past been decided by around 500 votes.

[50] And this year, it's considered essential in President Trump's narrowing path to victory.

[51] And so this is exactly the sort of place where if Democrats could register and activate even a fraction of the one and a half million convicted felons affected by Amendment 4, it would have a meaningful difference in the election.

[52] Who are you going to vote for?

[53] I don't know yet.

[54] They ain't going to be a Republican.

[55] Okay, enough thing too, bro.

[56] Well, what's your political party affiliation?

[57] I don't have to be independent.

[58] Okay, but I've got to take this too, right?

[59] Just the big and the lesser crook, that's it.

[60] So as the general election got underway, we wondered what kind of efforts were being made in the state to try to mobilize this new group of voters, and what efforts were being made to stop them from voting?

[61] Tell me about your morning so far so I can get a mic check.

[62] My morning was pretty good so far.

[63] So far so good.

[64] You know, I got a decent amount of rest.

[65] I was able to, you know, get up and actually be able to watch my face and everything and all of that stuff and get a bite to eat.

[66] We met up with Julius at our hotel before a morning of registering voters.

[67] We're meeting there because he's currently sleeping in his car.

[68] You know, it seems, it sounds bad, right?

[69] But in comparison to sleeping at the park or sleeping on the back of a business truck or something like that.

[70] To me, it's a, I counted joy.

[71] I counted a blessing.

[72] It's a step toward, you know, a better way of being or whatever.

[73] Julius is himself a former felon.

[74] He got out of prison nearly a decade ago, and he agreed to let us watch him do his work.

[75] But we first wanted to spend a little time understanding his own story.

[76] So let's talk a little bit about where you grew up and how you grew up.

[77] Tell me a little bit about what it was.

[78] It was like growing up here in Gainesville.

[79] Growing up here in Gainesville, it was pretty good for the most part, you know.

[80] Although I stayed in almost every housing project in Gainesville, it was pretty good.

[81] You know, sang, playing, laughing, I love to draw.

[82] Yeah.

[83] And what did you want to be when you grew up?

[84] At the time, I wanted to be an artist.

[85] I wanted to just draw stuff.

[86] I wanted to be artists, yeah.

[87] How did you start drawing?

[88] I can't remember the start of it.

[89] Oh, I do remember, actually.

[90] At Roders Elementary, it was just cool teacher, art teacher, that Mr. Booth, a black guy, right?

[91] And I remember seeing a picture of Mike Tyson, he drew.

[92] I was just standing in the hallway, just look at it.

[93] Every time we go down the hallway to lunch or whatever, I just be standing there just looking at the picture.

[94] And one day you stopped and asked me, I see you all the time looking at the picture.

[95] Anything you want to ask me?

[96] I was like, yeah, how did you make the hair look so real?

[97] And he told me I did figure eights.

[98] Since then, I started really getting in the drawing.

[99] I got really good at it really fast.

[100] What did you talk about, if anything, about politics growing up?

[101] Did you ever hear about politics?

[102] What was your family's point of view on what was going on in the government?

[103] I was never really a conversation I heard.

[104] It's talked about too much, you know.

[105] But the earliest, I can remember anything about government, politics, like stuff like, oh, Bill Clinton.

[106] We were watching, we were watching I think it was, was it in living color or something And Bill Clinton was playing a saxophone Or some shit like that And I remember him My dad or somebody saying something about Oh yeah, how cool it was Something like that Do you remember ever seeing your mom or dad go and vote?

[107] Never They never said, okay, I gotta go Because it's voting day Cast about present for Bill Clinton I'll be back kids I'm going to vote right quick No I never heard the conversation ever No Why do you think that is?

[108] Why do you think they did, though?

[109] I'm just, life of certain people is really different.

[110] You know, certain things, some people never have to even think about or worry about because, you know, it's a given.

[111] You know, I have gas to go where I need to go or I have enough food to eat.

[112] That's not like a worry.

[113] But other people, they live in a state of need or worry or things of this nature.

[114] So I guess that wasn't.

[115] Something, but wasn't worth discussing.

[116] Okay, now tell me about the first time that you got in trouble with the law.

[117] First time I ever got in trouble with the law, I was at just turned 18.

[118] I turned 18 February the 9th.

[119] This all probably happened like March sometime.

[120] The story of how Julius became disenfranchised is a pretty common story for black men in Florida before Amendment 4 passed.

[121] Young men were getting their right to vote stripped from them almost as soon as they were becoming eligible to vote.

[122] If you were like Julius and got busted when you were 18, poof, your right to vote was gone.

[123] But I had brought a bunch of weed, man. It was like some really good weed.

[124] And a lady pulled up in the parking lot or whatever, just sitting there.

[125] And she was like, hey, you, do you got any Coke?

[126] No, I don't have any Coke.

[127] You got any weed, you can sell me?

[128] I like, yeah, I could say a bag of weed.

[129] Like, let me get two of them.

[130] I saw the two bags of weed.

[131] She got it, she left, and then like three weeks later, I heard a knock on the door, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom really hard.

[132] And lo and behold, it's the police officers and a bunch of cameramen.

[133] Those are three detectives, and one of them looked really familiar for some reason.

[134] This lady looked at her very familiar.

[135] Like, what did I know her from?

[136] And that lady that I recognized was the same lady that came and brought the weed from me. Like, is Julia serving here?

[137] I stepped outside real quick and closed the door.

[138] I was weed, a roman coming at the house.

[139] And I was like, I'm like, yes, I'm Julius Irving.

[140] And I was like, we have a warrant for your arrest.

[141] This part of Julius' story is a little less typical.

[142] This was back in 2005.

[143] At the time, there was a popular TV show in Gainesville called Gainesville Police Beat.

[144] It was like a local version of the show, Cops.

[145] But this particular show was produced by the police department itself.

[146] So that's who showed up at Julius's door that day.

[147] The police and the camera crew to kept.

[148] your footage of him being arrested to later air on the episode.

[149] Welcome to Police Beat.

[150] My name is Keith Kamik, and I'm the spokesperson for the Gainesville Police.

[151] Did other people see the TV show?

[152] Oh, yeah.

[153] At the time, it was like, I don't even think the show still runs anymore.

[154] But at the time, it was pretty popular in Gainesville.

[155] Like, oh, we got on, we're just in Cops here in Gainesville, Florida.

[156] So everybody watched it or whatnot.

[157] Yeah, I heard quite a bit about it after it happen.

[158] Police Beat.

[159] Did anybody explain to you what rights you were going to lose with felony charge, with a drug charge?

[160] No, not really, no sign.

[161] I don't imagine you were thinking about voting at that point.

[162] Not at all, not even a little bit.

[163] At that time, voting was probably the farthest thing from my mind.

[164] I never thought about things like that at that time.

[165] Julius was sentenced to 90 days in jail for selling marijuana to that undercover officer.

[166] And after he got out, he went back to selling drugs.

[167] I got discrete life, man, heavy.

[168] You know, I started using harder drugs and everything.

[169] And I never thought about working.

[170] I'm like, man, working some bullshit.

[171] Like, why would I fucking spend eight hours of my life at a place and only give me, at the time, minimum wage, was like, sit something.

[172] I sit 75 for an hour of my life.

[173] I had sent in this place and flip these burgers or take out of this trash or mopped this floor for six dollars per hour.

[174] Hell, no. in the hood and I can make motherfucking a hundred dollars an hour, you know what I'm saying, or whatever.

[175] So anyways, he developed an addiction and ended up in and out of jail over the next couple of years on more drug charges.

[176] And then he gets a cocaine charge and violates his probation.

[177] And the judge gave me a year, one year and one day in prison.

[178] Up until this point, Julius had only ever spent time in jail.

[179] So this was the first time he'd be going to prison.

[180] What was that like?

[181] Now, that right, it was hurtful, right, because to get off this bus to ride here and see all of these, like, the fucking gun tower, these tall fences with Bob Wright everywhere, the officers getting off the bus with the shotguns and everything, and the others getting off the bus going in, they're saying, all right, take off all your clothes.

[182] We're standing their naked, a room for, like, 40, 50 men, standing their naked.

[183] And then we all get ushered into a room, maybe 10 people at a time.

[184] there's other officers there and they begin to tell us to do things like a stand up bend over put your head forehead on the bench and spread your butt sheets as a man right in a room with other man it was like weird feeling for any human being right i mean unless you experience it it's it's something else how'd that leave you feeling it was just degrading it was embarrassing on a very, very deep level.

[185] I can explain how embarrassing and how just weird it was, bro.

[186] Months into his sentence, Julius says he had an experience that would change him for the worst.

[187] The way he tells it, a fellow white inmate believed that Julius had stolen some of his remittance money, which is money sent to inmates by their families so they can buy specialty foods and items in the prison.

[188] And then one day, Julius says that he was working his job at the prison as a laundromand, handing out close to other inmates.

[189] So I was doing my laundry thing, duties or whatnot, and while I was inside the laundry room, there's a door that comes from outside of the door that only an officer could open, that any door inside of there with a lock on it, only an office can open or whatever.

[190] So when I heard the door open, behind me, I just assumed that it was an officer coming in.

[191] I didn't initially turn around or look, or whatever.

[192] I just kept doing my work, kept down working.

[193] So when I heard the door open and closed, what was said from the person behind me would turn around.

[194] It was like, yeah, what's up, man?

[195] Julius alleges that it was a prison guard who allowed the other prisoner into the room to resolve this dispute.

[196] They opened the door, let him in and close it.

[197] It was just me and him, and it was like a guard supervising the fight.

[198] After the extended period of time went by, the guard opened the door.

[199] It got the dude, he walked out, and they told me to clean this shit up and get ready for laundry.

[200] So you were in the custody of the state of Florida when this happened to you?

[201] Cust to the state of Florida, yes, sir.

[202] After that, Julius was assigned to work at a lumber mill under a contract between the prison and a private company that uses prison labor.

[203] He was paid 25 cents an hour and says he became an agitator at the bill, calling it legalized slavery and encouraging others to quit and protest the low wages.

[204] He says one day he reached a breaking point and began just screaming at people.

[205] He was put in solitary confinement for 30 days where he alleges that he was regularly beaten by the guards.

[206] How did this leave you feeling about the state?

[207] It made me feel like the state is worse than any person outside of air.

[208] It made me really start looking at the system in a different kind of way.

[209] Like, you know, like it's corrupt.

[210] It's evil, it's wicked, and it's promoting the same thing as saying that it's trying to stop.

[211] It's creating more violent versions of people.

[212] You know, I went to prison a pretty good dude, bro, but I came home prison.

[213] with a chip on my shoulder.

[214] You know what I'm saying?

[215] Where it wasn't there like that before.

[216] Did you feel the state was here to protect you at all?

[217] Not at all.

[218] Not even a little bit.

[219] There's a time where I believe that, you know, all cops weren't bad.

[220] I thought that before this, I came home thinking they're all bad.

[221] They're all bad.

[222] I looked at police now at the biggest gang in the city.

[223] They're the biggest, most organized gang in the city.

[224] You know, and I looked at politicians and, people of that nature as like the mob bosses, and the police officers, are their enforcers, you know, because I understood, like, gang life or whatever, and I associate it.

[225] It's the same concept.

[226] They're just doing on a bigger, greater scale.

[227] So Julius's prison experience leaves him with a tremendous amount of distrust of the system.

[228] But it also activated him in a way that sort of unexpectedly leads him to this kind of work trying to convince people to engage with the system.

[229] It starts when he's released in 2009 and eventually gets a job working at Waffle House.

[230] When was the first time you heard about Amendment 4?

[231] First time I heard about Amendment 4.

[232] I got nominated to go to like a man's retreat because some of the activism work I was doing like another person.

[233] What kind of work?

[234] Just activism work.

[235] Dealing with guys getting out of prison, helping people get IDs, get like work boots and stuff, get back and forward to work, whatever.

[236] And I was doing all of this out of my own money that I was making out of the Woffel House because I was a waiter at the Woffel House and I got pretty good tips.

[237] I would make like 150 bucks a day, working like five days a week plus whatever my paycheck was when it came.

[238] This work Julius is doing catches the attention of a voting rights group, which is composed of formerly incarcerated people who are campaigning for Amendment 4 to be passed.

[239] one of the group's most active members was Julius's own sister, who also served time in prison.

[240] Together, they start going through Gainesville, trying to convince people, people, mind you, who already have the right to vote, to give that right to former felons.

[241] A little bit of news out of Florida, one of the ballot initiatives in Florida that has raised, a lot of national attention, including statewide effort, has been Amendment 4, which would restore voting rights to felons.

[242] This affects over a million potential voters, and this is now we've got a projected answer.

[243] And they were hugely successful.

[244] Amendment 4 got passed with 65 % of Florida voters voting in favor, and it was the largest expansion of voting rights in the country in nearly four decades.

[245] I realized through what happened with Amendment 4, that voters collectively, when they're on one in court and unified behind any issue, can actually change existing law.

[246] Politicians care enough about what voters have to say if they collectively get together and say, they're in favor or something.

[247] They'll at least put it on the ballot where they can vote on it and then they could possibly change it.

[248] So that was like, okay, wow, that's my first time I ever seen any benefit to voting.

[249] For Julius, the success of Amendment 4 showed him that voting can actually make a difference.

[250] It was the first time seeing a positive side to the government that he'd been so skeptical of.

[251] That's how he ended up working for an organization that's been trying to register and activate these 1 .5 million potential voters.

[252] And so as this amendment was finally being applied for the first time in Florida and people were getting their rights back during a presidential election, we headed out with Julius to watch him register people to vote.

[253] Well, we look for someone, why don't you tell us a little bit about how you strategize, you know, where you're going to find people, how you think about the day where to catch people.

[254] I just think about places, you know, where I know a lot of people come, especially people that, you know, I say, my intended group of people, my target group of people, I try to hang places where I know that they'll come while I'll walk around and look for them or whatever.

[255] How did you try the group of people?

[256] Black people, you know, people that look like me, people that understand like me. And then also, too, I learned that African Americans and black people are one of the most underrepresented group in terms of registered voters.

[257] I just figured it'd be easier for me to, like, meet my quote and my goal by going to the people who I know are, like, stats will show that they're not ready to vote.

[258] So we've come with Julius to the parking lot of a strip mall, and we're outside of a plasma donation center just outside of downtown Gainesville.

[259] This is one of the places where he's had the most success registering voters.

[260] Why do people have to go get plasma?

[261] I don't know if it means for some quick cash.

[262] Oh, if I go in here and I give some of my blood or whatever, I can get free snacks and 70 bucks for it quick.

[263] You know, a lot of people live in a state of need, you know, because making minimum wage in Florida, the cost of living being as high as it is, and the minimum wage only being like, you know, $8 .75.

[264] You know, minimum wage sucks.

[265] And half of the jobs, you can't have get 40 hours.

[266] It's just people need money, bro.

[267] Pretty quickly as Julius gets to work, a few things become clear.

[268] One is that he's extremely charming.

[269] What's the other line for?

[270] Oh, yeah, that's for the years of birth.

[271] 19.

[272] When he was born, 1952?

[273] I was going to say 1921.

[274] People like talking to him, and they want to help him out by registering.

[275] You remember civil rights movement?

[276] People fought for that responsibility for us to be able to write, but we...

[277] But I don't like to, but I will, though, you know what I'm saying?

[278] So you're going to help me out?

[279] Thank you so much.

[280] Another is that his job is as much about educating people.

[281] as it is about getting them physically registered.

[282] Many of the convicted felons that Julius talks to...

[283] Really?

[284] Until y 'all just came, I didn't even know we can vote yet, you know what I'm saying?

[285] Either don't know that they can vote or are unclear on what exactly Amendment 4 means for them.

[286] At once upon time, I thought they put a stop, like the felonies or whatever, like if they got a feeling, they can still do or whatever, you know what I'm saying?

[287] So I'm trying to figure out what's going on with it.

[288] And in some cases, people are so disconnected from the political system.

[289] Check which party you're going to be a Republican.

[290] I don't even know, not because I ain't ever do.

[291] Okay, tell me, I right.

[292] Barack Obama was a Democrat.

[293] Donald Trump is a Republican.

[294] So you know the difference between the two.

[295] The Julius finds himself explaining the very basics of government.

[296] And then I specify which political party you identify with.

[297] They'd rather be Democrat or Republican.

[298] I don't know about this.

[299] I'm not sure.

[300] Okay, so boom, like I just told you don't know the difference between what it means.

[301] Okay, Donald Trump is a Republican, and Barack Obama and Bill Clinton were Democrats, right?

[302] But either option that you picked, right, doesn't mean that because I select a Republican, that I have to vote for that candidate, you feel me?

[303] So you can still pick, all that does is allow you to be able to vote in the primaries.

[304] Boom, that's up.

[305] Thank you, man. Uh -huh.

[306] What Julius really has going for him as he has these conversations is that he either can connect with or he already knows a lot of people coming in and out of the plasma center.

[307] Like this guy, who he knows from the neighborhood and is also a convicted felon.

[308] So it's good to specify your race when you do it because of black people, right?

[309] I want them with underrepresented groups in terms of registered voters.

[310] Y 'all I'm talking about indelisk and politicians only care about who can and can't vote me in or out.

[311] So when I look and see...

[312] I ain't got my idea on me and stuff.

[313] You can do one and the other, bro, to prove you a photo resident, That's an ID number or just the last four -year social.

[314] You can tell this guy is skeptical of registering.

[315] But Julius is able to appeal pretty directly.

[316] Hey, I get it.

[317] But here's why it matters.

[318] Also, too, bro, they select jurors from registered voters because black people are not registered to vote.

[319] I could never actually get, you know what I'm saying?

[320] People that know me or marry me or whatever.

[321] Like imagine a dog going to trial and his jurors is all cast.

[322] They already view him And they already view him in a negative light already You feel me?

[323] So they see guilt even when it's not there That's what happened with us in court, bro.

[324] So it's so many reasons you can vote, bro.

[325] Or you should register to the vote.

[326] And it works.

[327] That's that right here, right?

[328] Yeah, so that autograph right, duh.

[329] And phone him right here, so my manager can call to verify your info and also where you can give me a good review.

[330] Okay.

[331] We watch as Julius registers this new voter.

[332] I really appreciate it, man. Uh -oh.

[333] Okay, but because you pick his non -party affiliate and your vote, you can't even vote in the primary.

[334] You can vote for other things, you feel me, but you can't vote for, like, sent in the stuff like everything, you feel me?

[335] Basically, it's cool, though.

[336] And right here, I, that's your last name?

[337] Yeah.

[338] With the first name.

[339] That's how you do?

[340] I'm trying to hurry up to get up out of it.

[341] So this looks like success, both in educating this person on his new rights and getting him registered, right?

[342] But we're starting to realize as we listen to these encounters that registering people is really just the first.

[343] step, and maybe the easy part.

[344] As this newly registered voter starts to walk away...

[345] Hey, thank you again, man. You're welcome.

[346] I know you got to go, but can I ask you a quick question?

[347] Rachel and I grab him for a quick follow -up.

[348] Have you ever voted before?

[349] No. Why not?

[350] I've been a committed feeling for since I was 18.

[351] Okay.

[352] I'll be 37 tomorrow.

[353] Okay.

[354] Now, you just signed up to register to vote.

[355] But going to vote is a different thing.

[356] Do you think it's going to be worth voting once it gets to November?

[357] I don't know.

[358] I got to see who the candidates is and what their agendas are and all that.

[359] Because, you know, they give you one thing and then they do it the whole different.

[360] Well, what do you think about voting, just in general?

[361] Like I said, it don't matter to me one way or other.

[362] They're all crooks.

[363] I got to, I wasn't born rich, so I got to work either way, so it don't matter.

[364] Are you interested in the state attorney's race given that's the prosecutor's office that's putting a lot of people behind bars?

[365] No, I just stay out of his office.

[366] Keep my name out of his office.

[367] That's the major part.

[368] Y 'all have a good one, man. What's your name again?

[369] Ronald.

[370] Ronald.

[371] Ronald.

[372] Ronald.

[373] Ronald.

[374] Wesley.

[375] Okay.

[376] Thank you.

[377] It's one thing for Ronald to have registered to vote.

[378] It's another to convince him that it's worth his time to actually show up and vote in November.

[379] It's that same lack of faith in the system that Julius felt when he got out of prison, whereas only experience with the government has been with a law.

[380] And the thing is, this group of voters has good reason to mistrust the system and to think it might not want to change its relationship with them either.

[381] Ever since Amendment 4 was passed, Republican lawmakers in the state have been working to undermine it.

[382] What's your name?

[383] Can you introduce yourself?

[384] I'm Mr. Kelly.

[385] Mr. Kelly.

[386] I'm Nicholas Casey.

[387] Nice to meet you.

[388] As we're standing outside the plasma center, this older gentleman is watching us, curious about the microphone.

[389] And eventually he acts on that curiosity.

[390] And comes up to us.

[391] Nicholas Cage.

[392] Nicholas C .C., I wish.

[393] If I just had two letters change on my name, I would not be.

[394] So this is being video and audio?

[395] Just audio.

[396] So we work for the New York Times.

[397] The New York Times also has a pot.

[398] Yeah, New York Times, yeah.

[399] We're doing a story on Amendment 4.

[400] Do you know what that is?

[401] It was the State Amendment or Federal Amendment?

[402] It was the State Amendment.

[403] They allowed people who had felony convictions to vote again.

[404] Right, right.

[405] Yeah.

[406] And so what we've been trying to do is talk to people like that gentleman.

[407] over there had a felony conviction he didn't think okay really most people might call off felons so okay tell me a little bit about yourself then what you want to know well um you mentioned that that you'd have felony conviction how long ago was it was a long time was it was it recently was it 15 2015 so you know more than five years ago yeah have you because we're doing a story about voting right so but i can't book because i owe our old i owe uh restitution okay The Republicans came behind that voting, and they put some, put them things in there, to give you old restitution, or you got other monetary court fees enough, you still can't vote.

[408] So I still can't vote.

[409] Mr. Kelly's right.

[410] There are some people who think that Amendment 4 was the end of something.

[411] They thought that when this passed, that our work was done.

[412] Shortly after Amendment 4 was passed, the Republicans did get.

[413] come in behind it, and they passed legislation that aimed to dramatically limit its effect.

[414] See, I maintained my commitment from day one on this initiative that we would take this for what it was, and we would continue doing the great policy work that I am proud of.

[415] In June 2019, the Republican governor, DeSantis, signed into law a requirement that convicted felons pay all the court fees associated with their case, even a fee associated with accepting a public defender before they would be allowed to vote again.

[416] The argument was that a person's sentence is not actually complete until they've paid these fees.

[417] Do you know how much it is that you owe?

[418] The restitution is $600 ,000.

[419] $600 ,000, okay.

[420] What was the restitution for?

[421] It was for my employer.

[422] That money that Mr. Kelly says he owes has to do with a pretty complicated fraud scheme from a few years back.

[423] And, like, how much are you making a month, for example?

[424] Now, do you got a job?

[425] Yeah.

[426] Okay, if they put you on a payment plan to pay $600 ,000, how long, how many years would it take to pay that?

[427] You ought to pay the plan.

[428] Okay, how much you pay every month?

[429] $100, a minimum, no. So you pay the minimum $100, that would be $1 ,200 a year.

[430] That would be about 400 years before you'd be able to pay off the rest.

[431] Yeah, they know that.

[432] So even though technically, Amendment 4 gave Mr. Kelly his right to vote back, practically speaking, this new law made voting impossibly out of it.

[433] reach.

[434] But then, shortly after Governor DeSantis signed the law, 17 former felons, along with the ACLU, sued the state.

[435] And in October of 2019, a judge said those 17 people did not have to pay fees in order to vote.

[436] And the expectation was that the ruling would eventually apply to all felons whose voting rights had been reinstated under Amendment 4.

[437] But in this moment, as we're talking to Mr. Kelly, everything is still kind of hanging in limbo.

[438] What we're standing there talking to him, Julius comes over.

[439] Yes, sir.

[440] I started interrupt, right?

[441] So, boom, I'm going to come and talk to you and ask you, right?

[442] And actually, that whole thing with the final restitutions, right?

[443] October the 17th of last year, a federal judge ruled it unconstitutional to deny you your rights to vote based upon monetary debt.

[444] They're still fighting it in the course, but the state say, no, I can't vote.

[445] The federal, the feds is not in charge of elections.

[446] Julius is trying to convince Mr. Kelly that he's okay to vote.

[447] Honestly, right, I still a restitution.

[448] I just got my voter registration card.

[449] I go get out of the car and show you.

[450] You can get a voter registration card, but legally you can't vote if you're a fellow in Florida.

[451] But technically, Mr. Kelly is actually right that for the time being, the judge's ruling only applied to those 17 felons.

[452] And it just goes to show what a confusing tug of war this right to vote has become.

[453] If you're old restitution are fine, you still can't vote.

[454] It's passed the Florida legislature.

[455] They issue.

[456] They issue in the cards.

[457] I literally owe restitution.

[458] I'm telling you.

[459] I can go and register to the vote.

[460] I can go registered right now.

[461] They'll give me a card.

[462] But if I decide to vote, I'll be breaking the law.

[463] You know, I don't want to take that chance.

[464] I understand.

[465] Hey, but thank you, though, anyway, okay?

[466] After this interaction, Julius is clearly feeling a little down.

[467] He says interactions like this can cause him to reflect.

[468] on the nature of the work that he's doing and how he came to be doing it.

[469] What's it like trying to tell someone to go vote when they remember the same things as you over what the state of Florida once did to them?

[470] It's difficult, really.

[471] You know what I'm saying?

[472] I really battle this thing inside of me sometimes, right?

[473] When I see a guy and he's like, man, adamantly against, like, voting in any kind of way, shape, from a fashion, I have to, like, still persuade him to do this or whatever, you know, and I used to deal with that a lot when I first got this job.

[474] Like, I felt like I was compromising my personal integrity.

[475] Remember, Julius's main reason for taking this job wasn't his belief in the power of voting.

[476] He took it because he needed a paycheck, which is really hard to come by if you have a felony conviction.

[477] And while the passage of Amendment 4 was this moment where Julius saw what the power of voting can be, the legal battle that has ensued in its wake, that's more closely in line with his overall experience of government and with the state of Florida.

[478] So while Julius makes a convincing case for voting every day at work, he can find himself being pretty conflicted about the work that he's doing.

[479] As he's talking with us, he remembers one particular conversation where he really felt that, where another former felon actually refused to register.

[480] young dudes standing inside the middle of one of the worst neighborhood and southwest side of Gainesville, Florida, and he was very well -spoken.

[481] And you have to tell from the look in his eyes and from the tone of his voice and the certainty of his words that he knew what he was talking about.

[482] He knew how he felt, he knew why he felt that way, and he was strongly against the government and voting in the whole system.

[483] I knew that he had an in -depth reason why, and I totally got it because I have that same view, right?

[484] I knew that he was awake and aware and he knew maybe all the things.

[485] I know, if not more, right?

[486] At such a young age, I felt like, oh, man. Oh, man, see this young man here stand on his integrity, but I'm compromising mine because I'm in need.

[487] I need money, and I want to get it the legal, righteous way.

[488] It made me feel like, what's the right word?

[489] Like, I don't know if shames it, ashamed or the right word.

[490] I just felt like whatever you feel when you know that you've compromised their integrity.

[491] To be registered and people to vote, you felt that was a compromise.

[492] Yeah, I felt that, especially in that moment.

[493] Because you thought he was right.

[494] Yeah, he is, he is.

[495] And I totally got where it was coming from.

[496] There's a lot of people who have been listening to this that would say, I don't understand because the only way to change things is to go out and vote.

[497] Why would you never vote?

[498] Can you explain that to me?

[499] Because you seem to get it to a certain degree.

[500] Okay, the whole, I don't understand people that make statements like that.

[501] That say the only way to change things is to go out and vote.

[502] The only way, are you certain that's the only way to change things?

[503] Well, you're mistaken, my friend.

[504] You know what I'm saying?

[505] And I get it.

[506] Like, why waste time with something?

[507] Why waste my time with something that I know isn't going to provide me the help that I need now or whatever?

[508] Why put the things that I won't done or need done for myself in the hands of somebody I'll never see, I'll never see meat or bump into Donald Trump in any kind of way or whoever the next president.

[509] it is or whatever.

[510] They'll never send anybody in my communities.

[511] They never talk about us.

[512] Donald Trump and I sit around, I wonder what Julie's doing in Gainesville.

[513] I wonder if Julie's is okay today.

[514] They don't talk about me. Don't worry about me. So I totally get that thing, whatever.

[515] Like, hey, man, forget voting, bro.

[516] I'm going to go out here and help these people in this community with their cars or whatever, because I got a few guys that I'm sitting in the Santa Fe for all the mechanics, and we're going back to the community, giving free all the work to the people out here.

[517] And those people in the community will talk about what we did for the next three, four years before they talk about what Trump or Barack Obama did because they received actual help that benefited their lives today, tomorrow, and in their future.

[518] This way of looking at things only makes more sense in the time since we were in Gainesville.

[519] I'm not sure if you missed this news yesterday, but it's pretty monumental for us here in Florida.

[520] In May of this year, the Florida judge who sided with the 17 felons and the ACLU, did in fact expand his ruling to apply to all former felons in Florida.

[521] Today, a federal judge called that a, quote, paid a vote system and said it was unconstitutional when applied to felons who were otherwise eligible to vote, but genuinely unable to pay the required amount.

[522] He ruled that requiring former felons to pay off their fines was unconstitutional and essentially mounted to a poll tax.

[523] But the reality is that this legal wrangling could still continue here.

[524] So far, Governor DeSantis' office is only saying It is in the process of reviewing this ruling.

[525] The state responded by challenging that ruling, which landed the case in a federal appeals court.

[526] Major shakeup ahead of the election, a federal appeals court's decision today is now putting the voting rights of hundreds of thousands of felons in jeopardy.

[527] That court, the 11th Circuit, sided with the Republicans and allowed the restitution requirement to go into effect until they made their own decision on the case at a later date.

[528] And thousands of Floridians are left in the lurch.

[529] unsure if they will be able to vote this fall.

[530] And just a few weeks ago, political analysts believe a court ruling today could determine the presidential election in the key swing state of Florida and maybe the nation.

[531] The court handed down its definitive ruling.

[532] Florida felons must pay all fines before they can vote.

[533] That's what a federal appeals court ruled today.

[534] In a majority decision, consisting in part of five judges appointed by President Trump, the court ruled that felons do, in fact, have to pay off all of their fines and fees before they can vote in November.

[535] By the way, the ruling says it is not the state's responsibility to come up with a way to let felons know how much they owe.

[536] That burden is on the person.

[537] There's no central database where someone can go and check whether they have outstanding fines or if they've paid any amount toward it.

[538] And the state says it would take years to make that kind of database.

[539] On top of that, if a person doesn't know if they owe fines or fees and goes ahead and votes anyway, they could face perjury charges, which would mean another felon.

[540] conviction and the possibility of going back to prison.

[541] Some estimates show that this could basically negate Amendment 4, that up to 80 % former felons in Florida will not be eligible to vote in November after all.

[542] And one of those people is likely to be Julius himself.

[543] He owes money related to his court cases, which would be disqualifying.

[544] But on top of that, he now faces a new felony charge, stemming from a knife fight he got into back in March of last year, which he insists was self -defense.

[545] But given his long record, prosecutors charged him with first -degree attempted murder.

[546] Because of the pandemic, his case has been up in the air.

[547] He's been regularly attending his court dates via Zoom, but no trial date has been said.

[548] So things are pretty uncertain for him right now.

[549] Regardless, he will most likely face a life sentence.

[550] Teeting there inside Freedom Said it's freedom time now It's freedom What was that song?

[551] What was the song?

[552] I know it's Lornail Ben It's what you're saying It's like one of my go -to Go -to songs that make me like feel good And sometimes, bro, like it doesn't make me cry, but I just feel it so much Like, oh, I understand, bro, like freedom is more than just like not being in cars You can be mentally in prison You can be bondage to addiction self -hate or a negative outlook on life or anything.

[553] So I'm all about freedom in every sense of the form of the word, freedom.

[554] I'm all about freedom, bro.

[555] And I play in like good moments like now.

[556] If I feel free, I like to hear it.

[557] What's making you feel free right now?

[558] Okay, doing the great job, doing the right way.

[559] You know, admitting my faults at the risk of being, even at the risk of being viewed at a negative type of way.

[560] Still admitting them doing the right thing even though I didn't have to.

[561] I feel more like my natural self.

[562] I feel like this, huh, father.

[563] You know what I'm saying?

[564] Yeah, I feel free right now.

[565] That's what's up.

[566] Here's what else you need to know.

[567] Early Friday morning, the White House said that both President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump had contracted the coronavirus, a stunning development that brought the pandemic to the highest possible level of American government, just 33 days before the election.

[568] As a result, the president will have to withdraw from the campaign trail and remain isolated at the White House for an unknown period of time.

[569] In a statement, the president's physician said that he expected Trump to carry out his duties without disruption while he recovers.

[570] Trump has repeatedly downplayed the third threat of the virus, avoided wearing a mask, and held public events at odds with government guidelines.

[571] On Thursday, his top advisor, Hope Hicks, tested positive for the virus after traveling with the president on multiple flights.

[572] Hours later, the president himself tested positive.

[573] The daily is made by Theo Belcom, Andy Mills, Lisa Tobin, Rachel Quester, Lindsay Garrison, and Annie Brown, Claire Tennis Getter, Paige Cowitt, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Larissa Anderson, Wendy Dorr, Chris Wood, Jessica Chung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leong, Lisa Chow, Eric Kruppki, Mark George, Luke Van derpluk, Kelly Prime, Sindhu Yana Summon Dunn, M .J Davis Lynn, Austin Mitchell, Nina Pontuck, Dan Powell, Dave Shaw, Sydney Harper, Daniel Guimette, Hans Buto, Robert Jimmison, Mike Benoit, Bianca Gaver, Liz O 'Balen, Asta Chauthervedi, Rochelle Bonja, Caitlin Roberts, Elise Spiegel, Diana Wynne, and Marion Lozano.

[574] Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsberg of Wonderly.

[575] Special thanks to Sam Dolmick, Michaela Bouchard, Lauren Jackson, Julia Simon, Mahima Chablani, Nora Keller, Sophia Milan, Des Ibuquois, Stephen Kersey, Amy Chin, and Shafak Timor.

[576] That's it for the daily.

[577] I'm Michael Babaro.

[578] See you on Monday.