Hecklers can sometimes be obnoxious or annoying. But they can also be on the money, as Vice President Kamala Harris found out while she was giving a speech in Georgia on Friday. Harris was speaking to a crowd of supporters about abortion issues in Atlanta, Georgia, Friday and she sharply criticized Donald Trump for taking credit for the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
She also lambasted the former president for promising to vote against a ballot measure in Florida that offers additional protections for abortion rights in the state’s constitution. The measure would also extend the state’s six-week abortion ban to 24 weeks. When Harris remarked on this, one audience member interrupts her, claiming “Felons can’t vote!”
As hecklers go, this person definitely has a healthy sense of humor. Harris and other audience members laughed out loud at the hilarious and on-point one-liner.
Harris had been discussing GOP attempts at restricting contraception when the audience member fired the salvo.
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“And they want to restrict access to contraception as well,” she told the audience.”And now Donald Trump says that he would personally cast his vote in Florida, which is where he now lives, to support their extreme abortion ban, just like the one that here in Georgia.”
“Felons can’t vote!” the heckler responded.
Harris and several members of the audience cracked up over this spicy retort. She composed herself and added, “Well that’s a whole different policy discussion that we’ll have another day.”
But the bad news is that even though Trump really is a convicted felon and lives in a state that has strict laws preventing felons from voting, Trump will, unfortunately still be able to vote, Mediaite reports.
According to the Florida Department of State’s website, regarding felonies other than murder or sexual offenses, “[a] felony conviction in another state makes a person ineligible to vote in Florida only if the conviction would make the person ineligible to vote in the state where the person was convicted.” But the monkeywrench here is that Trump was convicted in New York and state law here states that a felon’s right to vote can be restored upon release.
And even if he is sentenced to jail in New York, an appeal would preserve his voting rights in the state.
This is really kind of awful, when you think about it. But I’m boiling it down to the basic facts here, with remarks from Dave Aronberg, who said a felony conviction “does not become final until the judgment of the lower court has been finally affirmed by the appellate court.” In other words, “a felon “is not ‘convicted’ within the meaning of the constitutional disqualification from voting while an appeal from such conviction is pending or while the time for an appeal from the judgment or sentence has not expired.”
Trump is now a convicted felon, but he will likely be able to vote in Florida while his appeal is pending.
See 21 Fla. Jur. 2d 42 (Mar 2024) and Fla. AGO 077-42 (May 1977). pic.twitter.com/rg5KwGLX84
— Dave Aronberg (@aronberg) May 30, 2024
So this is a huge bummer. Due to his influence and bankroll, he can keep voting. If he’s given this right, then all convicted felons should be given this right. The hypocrisy here is stunning.
But if you’d like to have a laugh, you can watch the funny response here.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery.
