A fund created to help Florida felons pay back court fines and fees so they may become eligible to vote has seen a burst in support ahead of the state’s Oct. 5 registration deadline. The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition said on Tuesday it had raised more than $20 million toward its $25 million goal, the New York Times reports. Most of the money has come in since Sept. 11, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld a Florida law that leaves former felons disenfranchised unless they repay outstanding legal debts. A lower court had ruled the law unconstitutional because it amounted to a poll tax.
Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York mayor who ran in this year’s Democratic presidential primary, tapped his network to raise the bulk of the money — $16 million. Bloomberg has vowed to spend $100 million in Florida to help Joe Biden win the state. Among the celebrities involved in the effort have been musician John Legend, basketball stars LeBron James and Michael Jordan, and director Steven Spielberg, the coalition said. The fund has helped more than 4,000 people. Each applicant has received about $1,000 in assistance, which means $25 million could help some 25,000 former felons. There are at least one million felons in Florida, and nearly three-quarters owe some sort of court debt. Most are too poor to pay. Judge Barbara Lagoa, one of the people whom President Donald Trump is considering to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, voted with the 6-4 majority upholding the law requiring the payment of court fines and fees.