Former President Donald Trump will still be able to vote for himself in November — so long as he isn’t behind bars.
In New York, a convicted felon can still register to vote if he or she isn’t in prison, under a law passed in 2021. For convicts in jail, they regain their right to vote once they’re released.
State laws vary on when or if a convicted felon loses the right to vote temporarily or permanently.
Although Mr. Trump was convicted in New York, he’s a Florida resident residing at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach.
“Florida defers to other state laws when it comes to disenfranchising voters who are tried and convicted elsewhere. … [In New York], those convicted of felonies who do not go to prison never lose their voting rights,” said Blair Bowie, director of the Campaign Legal Center’s Restore Your Vote project.
The only way Mr. Trump wouldn’t be able to vote is if New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan sends him to jail for his conviction. Sentencing is set for July 11.
The former president faces jail time or probation.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed Friday to back Mr. Trump, saying the former president “hasn’t lost his voting rights in Florida.”
“Rights are not removed in Florida where they haven’t yet been stripped in the convicting jurisdiction. That said, given the absurd nature of the New York prosecution of Trump, this would be an easy case to qualify for restoration of rights per the Florida Clemency Board, which I chair,” Mr. DeSantis wrote on X.
He added, “The bottom line is that Donald Trump’s vote this November will be one of millions that demonstrate Florida is now a solid Republican state!”
On Thursday, a 12-member jury in New York found Mr. Trump guilty on 34 felony counts for falsifying business records, reportedly documenting money paid to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election as “legal fees” to keep her quiet about an alleged affair from a decade before.
His former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid the porn actress $130,000 not to talk to the press about the affair, which Mr. Trump denies having.
Prosecutors charged the falsified business records were done to cover up another crime. Critics thought that other crimes could be a campaign finance violation, though the judge did not require the underlying crime to be specified for the conviction.
Mr. Trump has said he is not guilty of any crime.
He plans to appeal.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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