Donald Trump considers himself a Floridian, but he won't be able to cast a vote for himself in the sunshine state if he has been convicted of a felony by the time election day rolls around, according to a report from The Messenger on Wednesday.
The former president reportedly changed his voter registration from New York to Florida in 2019, but his new home state might not welcome his vote if he is convicted, according to the report.
"The legal proceedings and consequences of a potential guilty verdict remain the same as any other trial, which, by Florida law, includes a scenario where — if found guilty — Trump could temporarily lose his right to vote," it says. "Florida doesn’t allow people who are convicted of a felony to vote, although, depending on the crime, once a sentence is fully served the individual’s voting rights can be automatically restored and they are allowed to re-register, according to Michael Morley, an associate law professor at Florida State University College of Law."
The law restricting felons' right to vote has been a controversial, with litigation coming from civil rights groups, according to the report. Trump himself has gone on the record supporting such laws.
"Trump has been vocal in the past about his opinions on felons voting. In 2016, he criticized then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe for restoring voting rights to felons in Virginia," the report states.
"You know what they just did in the state of Virginia? Two hundred thousand people that were in prison for horrible crimes are being given the right to vote,” Trump said. “That’s crooked politics,” Trump continued. “Because Virginia’s a very close state.”
