Alexander Lugo - Fresh Take Florida

Under Florida law and court rulings, most felons — except those convicted of murder or sexual offenses — can register and vote after they completed their prison terms and no longer owe any unpaid fines or court fees.

Kelvin Bolton was arrested at a local homeless shelter, court records showed. He was being held Thursday on a $30,000 bond on third-degree felony charges of perjury and fraud.

An investigation revealed a flawed voter registration system in Florida, nearly two years after dueling court battles over how to implement a state constitutional amendment that allowed felons to vote legally without going through a complex process to have their rights restored.

Each owed a few hundred dollars in unpaid court fees in prior felony cases when they registered as voters or cast ballots in the last presidential election, according to court records, which would have made them ineligible under Florida law.

The analysis showed that voters in nearly two dozen buildings in a six-mile radius had their party registration changed to Republican at rates more than 10 times the statewide average during the past year.