On May 30, Donald Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes after a New York jury found him guilty on all 34 charges in his hush money trial.
After the conviction, some people on social media claimed Trump, who is a Florida resident, may not be able to vote for himself in the 2024 presidential election because of Florida’s restrictive felony voting rules.
Recent online search trends show many people are wondering if these claims are true.
THE QUESTION
Can former President Trump still vote in Florida after his felony conviction in New York?
THE SOURCES
- Florida Constitution
- Florida Department of State Division of Elections
- New York State Board of Elections
- Jonathan Diaz, J.D., director of voting advocacy and partnerships at the Campaign Legal Center
- Michael P. McDonald, Ph.D., professor of political science at the University of Florida
THE ANSWER
The answer to this question depends on what happens following former President Trump’s sentencing on Sept. 18.
As long as Trump isn’t in prison in New York on Election Day, he’ll still be allowed to vote for himself in Florida.
WHAT WE FOUND
Although Florida is notorious for restricting the voting rights of people with felony convictions, Trump will still be able to vote in the 2024 presidential election as long as he stays out of prison in New York. This is because Florida defers to other states’ disenfranchisement rules for residents convicted of out-of-state felonies.
“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,” the Florida Division of Elections says on its website.
In New York, someone convicted of a felony is only barred from voting while incarcerated, according to the New York State Board of Elections. If they never serve time behind bars or are released for any reason – including parole – they can still vote.
“New York only disenfranchises felony prisoners, so his rights depend on his sentencing,” Michael McDonald, a University of Florida political science professor, wrote in an X post on May 30.
“In the extremely likely situation Trump’s conviction gets held up in appeals, I expect he’ll still have his voting rights come November,” McDonald added.
Jonathan Diaz, director of voting advocacy and partnerships at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit government watchdog group, agrees.
“FL treats out-of-state convictions based on the law of that state. In NY, felonies are only disenfranchising during the term of a prison sentence. So if no prison time here, no disenfranchisement,” Diaz wrote on X.
That means as long as Trump isn’t in prison on Election Day, he’ll still be allowed to vote in Florida.
Trump was originally scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, but Judge Juan Merchan opted to delay sentencing until Sept. 18 to weigh the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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