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LeBron James' group to donate $100k to turn out ex-felon vote in Florida

LeBron James in March. Photo: Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

More Than A Vote, an organization launched by Lakers forward LeBron James and other Black athletes and entertainers, announced on Friday it will donate $100,000 to help pay the court debts and fees of ex-felons in Florida so they can register to vote in November's election, Politico reports.

Why it matters: After Florida voters approved a measure in 2o18 that restored felons' voting rights after they completed their sentences, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a law requiring convicted felons to pay outstanding fines and penalties to get their voting rights back.

  • James' group will donate the money to the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, which advocated for the 2018 measure that lifted the state's lifetime felony voting ban.

What they're saying: “Your right to vote shouldn’t depend upon whether or not you can pay to exercise it,” Miami Heat forward and More than a Vote member Udonis Haslem said, per Politico.

The big picture: The Supreme Court recently declined to block Florida's rules that prevent some convicted felons from voting.

  • That ruling may have prevented convicted felons from registering before the state's primaries next month, and put some 85,000 people who had already registered in limbo.
  • Joe Biden is currently beating President Trump by 13 points in Florida — 51% to 38% — per a Quinnipiac University poll released this week. Florida, with its 29 electoral votes, is a key state in the president's re-election bid.

Go deeper

Ursula Perano
Oct 30, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Texas early voting surpasses 2016's total turnout

Early voting in Austin earlier this month. Photo: Sergio Flores/Getty Images

Texas' early and mail-in voting totals for the 2020 election have surpassed the state's total voter turnout in 2016, with 9,009,850 ballots already cast compared to 8,969,226 in the last presidential cycle.

Why it matters: The state's 38 Electoral College votes are in play — and could deliver a knockout blow for Joe Biden over President Trump — despite the fact that it hasn't backed a Democrat for president since 1976.

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Rebecca Falconer
5 hours ago - Politics & Policy

In photos: Protests outside fortified capitols draw only small groups

Armed members of the far-right extremist group the Boogaloo Bois near the Michigan Capitol Building in Lansing on Jan. 17. About 20 protesters showed up, AP notes. Photo: Seth Herald/AFP via Getty Images

Small groups of protesters gathered outside fortified statehouses across the U.S. over the weekend ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration Wednesday.

The big picture: Some protests attracted armed members of far-right extremist groups but there were no reports of clashes, as had been feared. The National Guard and law enforcement outnumbered demonstrators, as security was heightened around the U.S. to avoid a repeat of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots, per AP.

See photos (<1 min. read)Arrow
Felix Salmon, author of Capital
7 hours ago - World

China's economy grows 6.5% in Q4 as country rebounds from coronavirus

A technician installs and checks service robots to be be used for food and medicine delivery in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, China, on Sunday. Photo: Hu Xuejun/VCG via Getty Images

China's economy grew at a 6.5% pace in the final quarter of 2020, the national statistics bureau announced Monday local time, topping off a year in which it grew in three of four quarters and by 2.3% in total.

Why it matters: No other major economy managed positive growth in 2020. Although the COVID-19 pandemic was first detected in China, the country got the virus under control and became one of the main positive drivers of the global economy even as the rest of the world was largely under lockdown.

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow