Koch-Backed Group Supports Voting Rights for Felons in Florida

Freedom Partners, an organization with close ties to the conservative Koch Brothers, has backed a proposal to restore voting rights to non-violent convicted felons in Florida. The group, which is chaired by Koch Industries Vice President Mark Holden, announced in a Thursday press release that it was backing the measure known as Amendment 4 on the Florida ballot. “We believe that when individuals have served their sentences and paid their debts to society as ordered by a judge, they should be eligible to vote,” the organization said in a statement. “In the Sunshine State, Floridians are permanently excluded from voting because of a prior felony conviction—one of only four states with a lifetime ban. If we want people returning to society to be productive, law-abiding citizens, we need to treat them like full-fledged citizens.” It was not immediately clear if Freedom Partners planned to give financial support to the Second Chances campaign. Floridians for a Fair Democracy, which is sponsoring the amendment, says it has raised $14.3 million so far.