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The pro-Jim Crow 11CA opinion starts off by blatantly lying about the amendment passed in Florida in 2018. The poll tax was imposed by the Florida legislature, not the amendment itself: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/7206660/9-11-20-Jones-v-Florida-11th-Opinion.pdf
As Judge Martin's dissent observes, the state of Florida refuses to tell people with felony convictions what they owe so they can comply. This kind of Catch-22 is not consistent with the due process clause:
Really giving away the show (and cynically standing Reynolds v. Sims on its head, just like Bush v. Gore did) the majority asserts that the re-enfranchisement of (disproportionately Black and Hispanic) convicted felons will "dilute" the right to vote of others.
The majority asserts that it's fine for Florida to disenfranchise voters by creating a requirement to pay fines and fees and then refusing to tell them what they owe. Obviously, the idea that this is consistent with the 14th Amendment is absurd
Even if one assumes that rational basis review is the appropriate standard, Florida's argument fail. Not only is there no relationship between the arbitrary requirements and any legitimate objective, the requirements are being used to DEFEAT the purpose of the amendment:
Also critical to what is a very obvious due process violation is that the potential voters assume all the legal risk. If someone is determined to have voted illegally because the state refuses to tell them what the owe, they risk prosecution:
The District Court's remedy to this: i.e. the state either had to clearly tell people what the owe in a timely matter or they were enfranchised -- was appropriate, and 11CA overturning its decision is an appalling overstepping of its responsibilities.
And, in addition, the Florida legislature's attempt to defeat the will of the voters is a poll tax that violates the 24th Amendment:
"the textualists!"
The 5CA in the 50s and 60s was a pioneer on voting rights. The Trumpified 5CA of 2020, conversely, is an homage to Roger Taney and Bull Connor.
The brief dissent by the court's good Pryor (Jill) gets right to the point:
And given the state involved, this is the kind of anti-democratic feedback loop that could hand another Republican popular vote loser the Electoral College: https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2020/09/making-florida-jim-crow-again
