South Florida man with felony record votes for first time in nearly 30 years due to rights restoration
MIAMI — Dwight Spencer has been out of prison since 2017, and he's still having trouble finding steady work.
Spencer was convicted of felony drug possession charges in Florida in the 1990s. He was also convicted of federal charges and spent 20 years in federal prison before President Barack Obama commuted his sentence.
"I was very happy but still a little weary of coming back to society," Spencer said.
He also just got back his right to vote. Florida voters passed Amendment 4 in 2018, which restores a felon's right to vote once they complete all terms of their sentence. Spencer thought he was all clear once he got out.
"I [have] done paid my debt to society," he said.
But Spencer owed another kind of debt that kept him from voting, causing him to be rejected three times. It turns out the only thing that kept Spencer from voting was a $225 charge that he didn't even know about.
Spencer said he didn't even know where to look to find out how much he owed. He asked the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC) for help. Their lawyer got a judge to waive Spencer's balance if he did community service.
CBS News Miami has been told it can be hard to find out how much felons can owe after serving their sentences. Miami-Dade County just started putting balances online in January.
"Case managers probably don't even fully understand the depth of what's shown on there and how to do the research," said Duane Thwaites of FRRC.
A 2023 study by The Sentencing Project found that Florida leads the nation in disenfranchised felons with 1.15 million, with 81% of them unable to vote because of a financial obligation tied to their sentence.
"The majority of the people who have a record now who can't get their rights restored is because they don't know they owe money," Thwaites said.
Spencer got to fill out his first ballot in nearly 30 years on Tuesday.
"It's one more step back to the right direction. Getting yourself back together" Spencer said.
And if he didn't get help, Spencer "would've gave up."
"Wouldn't have thought more about it," he said.
Thwaites said FRRC has helped thousands of people get their voting rights back since Amendment 4 was passed. And they may be able to get more people's rights back in time for the general election.