Tina Polsky renews push to restore felon voting rights

A Florida lawmaker is refiling a bill that proposes a statewide database to reduce legal uncertainty and assist individuals with certain felony convictions in restoring their voting rights.

Boca Raton Democratic Sen. Tina Polsky filed the revised measure (SB 132), which aims to streamline the process of restoring the voting rights of individuals with certain felony convictions, and help determine whether they’ve met the legal criteria for restoration under Florida law.

Polsky filed an almost identical bill (SB 848) during the 2025 Legislative Session; however, the bill died during its passage through the Criminal Justice Committee.

The Florida Commission on Offender Review would be required to develop and maintain a centralized, publicly accessible database that contains information for individuals disqualified from voting due to felony convictions, excluding individuals who have been convicted of murder or felony sexual offenses.

The database would be required to contain information for individuals, including their name, and other identifying information. It would need to include information on outstanding restitution, fines, fees, and the remaining length of any term of supervision, such as probation, community control, or parole ordered by the court as part of his or her sentence.

The Department of State, the Department of Corrections, Clerks of the Circuit Courts, County Comptrollers, and the Board of Executive Clemency would be required to provide monthly information held by these entities to the Commission.

The Florida Digital Service under the Department of Management Services would provide technical assistance to develop and maintain the database. The department would be further authorized to adopt rules to facilitate support.

An online database must be accessible to the public by July 1, 2029, and is required to provide monthly updates. The website would be required to include clear instructions for individuals on how they restore their voting rights and register to vote.

The Commission would be tasked with submitting a comprehensive plan to the Governor and legislative leaders by July 1, 2027. 

This plan would include details on data collection and its sources, required infrastructure including software, hardware, and IT services, staffing needs across involved agencies, cost estimates for development, maintenance and annual appropriations, legal authority necessary for its development, and draft legislation to support its implementation.

The bill adds that individuals who register to vote by relying on the database’s information have the affirmative right to vote and cannot be criminally charged for fraudulent registration or voting. The Commission would adopt rules to implement the database and related procedures.

If passed, the bill would take effect July 1, 2026.