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A decision by Gov Charlie Crist, a Republican, may make the difference in turning his swing state Democratic in the next Presidential election, CBS' Kelly Cobiella speculated. Crist repealed Clemency Board rules, a vestige of racist Jim Crow voting laws, that disenfranchised almost one million Floridians. The 139-year-old ban permanently deprived former inmates of the state prison system of the right to vote, even if they had served their time in full, even if they had paid restitution. Now most former felons can cast a ballot and apply for professional licenses for careers such as medicine or law. "It is a matter of fundamental fairness and doing what is right," declared Crist. Cobiella consulted a Florida State University political scientist who told her that ex-cons represent an 80,000 net gain in Democratic turnout.
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