Supreme Court says Florida's voting rights restrictions for felons can stay in effect

The Supreme Court will allow Florida to enforce its restrictions on voting rights for felons, CNN reports.

In an unsigned order on Thursday, the court allowed Florida to implement a law under which felons must pay court fines and fees before they can vote. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Elena Kagan dissented. Sotomayor wrote that the court's "order prevents thousands of otherwise eligible voters from participating in Florida's primary election simply because they are poor."

A constitutional amendment passed in Florida in 2018 restored voting rights to felons who had completed their sentences. A law signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), however, subsequently said they must pay fines, fees, and restitution first, The Washington Post reports. In May, Judge Robert Hinkle of the United States District Court ruled that this law, which he said set up a "pay-to-vote system," was unconstitutional, but an appeals court in July blocked his ruling and set a hearing for the same date as the state's upcoming August primary, USA Today reports.

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Axios reports that under that appeals court's ruling, the restrictions could take effect, and with the Supreme Court declining to intervene on Thursday and block the law, this means the Florida restrictions can stay in effect "into the fall, if not longer."