PALM BEACH, Fla. _ Howard Lee Lockett brought his wife and 9-year-old son to the Florida state Capitol in September with a story and a hope: that Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet would restore his right to vote, lost after he was found guilty of aggravated battery as a 17-year-old.
In the 23 years since that crime, he graduated from college, married and became a director at a technology company. Despite that, Lockett's odds of being allowed to vote were as long as the road he took from his St. Petersburg home to Tallahassee.
That's because Scott's system of restoring voting rights has for years discriminated against black felons, boosting his own political prospects and those of other Republicans throughout the state, a Palm Beach Post analysis has found.
The Post's findings offer an unprecedented look at who got their rights back under Scott and go beyond the arguments made in an ongoing federal lawsuit that alleges Florida's system is arbitrary.
Independently confirming the identities, race and political affiliations of about half of those who had their rights restored under Scott _ the governor withheld information that would have allowed for a complete examination _ The Post found:
_ During his nearly eight years as governor, Scott restored the voting rights of twice as many whites as blacks and three times as many white men as black men.
_ Scott restored rights to a higher percentage of Republicans and a lower percentage of Democrats than any of his predecessors since 1971.
_ Blacks accounted for 27 percent of those who had their voting rights restored despite the fact that 43 percent of those released from state prisons over the past two decades were black.
_ Black men accounted for 16 percent of voting restorations even though 38 percent of released prisoners were black men.
_ Blacks accounted for a lower percentage of restorations under Scott than under any of his predecessors, Republican or Democrat, going back at least half a century.
Felons, many of them minorities, tend to vote for Democrats, studies have found. Limiting the number of felons who can vote almost certainly tips the scale in favor of Republicans in a state known for razor-thin victory margins.
