Part of the story from the link above.....
WHO’S AT FAULT?
Mixed messaging has contributed to the confusion, arrests and convictions over voting in Florida.
In 2018, Florida voters amended the state constitution to end Florida’s lifetime ban on voting for felons — with 64% casting ballots in favor of the ballot initiative. The measure specifically excluded those who had been convicted of murder, sexual assault and criminal sexual behavior.
The Legislature responded by requiring that felons who completed their sentences first pay all fees owed in relation to their crimes. The formerly incarcerated soon learned that there is no centralized location where they could learn what, if anything, they owed.
In a 2020 interview with the Herald/Times and ProPublica, then-Secretary of State Laurel Lee, a DeSantis appointee, said under state law it was her office’s responsibility to screen felons wishing to vote and to inform county supervisors which individuals were ineligible.
At the time Grant and the other 19 people filled out their registration applications, the state backlog to determine eligibility of felons was enormous. Until that backlog could be cleared, former felons should be considered “eligible voters,” Lee said in the Oct. 5, 2020, interview.
At a news conference, DeSantis contradicted that view, saying the responsibility lies with county elections officials. Lee is no longer the secretary of state, having been replaced in May by Cord Byrd, a former Republican state lawmaker.
Sometimes government agencies have worked at cross-purposes. In July 2020, the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections conducted a series of voter registration drives in the county jail to encourage felons who had completed their terms to register. Two years later, Alachua prosecutors charged 10 of those who registered with fraud, after a local resident reviewed the voter rolls and complained.