Former Criminals to Help Choose America's Next President

More Former Criminals Eligible to Vote

Since the end of the Civil War, Florida has been one of the most restrictive states in allowing convicted felons to vote. But after changes last year to the way the state restores felons' voting rights after they are released from prison, more former criminals may be allowed to vote this election year than in any other. Instead of having to appear before the state clemency board, most released felons are allowed to have their rights restored automatically.

Those convicted of crimes such as murder must still petition the clemency board.

And in Florida, where recent polls show Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama hanging on to a slim lead over Republican nominee John McCain, experts said it wouldn't take much to swing the state.

And the "felon vote" could add to the mix, with ineligible felon votes potentially canceling out legitimate votes, and legally eligible voters becoming disenfranchised because of glitches or inconsistencies in the system, such as registered voters being denied a vote because their names are similar to those of felons.

Obama has supported measures in the U.S. Senate to grant voting rights to felons who have served their time, while McCain has stated in the past that he believes most felons should forfeit some rights when they commit a crime.

Voting Democratic

University of Florida political science professor Paul Ortiz said former prisoners tend to vote Democratic, and Obama's position on rights restoration could work to his advantage in hotly contested Florida.

"Clearly if one party is saying we're not going to outreach to this group of folks, then they're probably not going to get the vote," Ortiz said.

He added that the recent changes to Florida's felon voting restrictions, backed by Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, are beginning to roll back more than a century of operating under a system with roots in Jim Crow laws designed to keep black voters away from polls.

"It's a topic rich with history. The felony disenfranchisement goes back to the reconstruction period when the disenfranchisement was was about race," Ortiz said. "But the state didn't have to say it was about race -- you would have black convicted felons who were singled out, but white convicted felons would slide through the process. It was selectively enforced."