‘The people deserve better’: how Florida is targeting the formerly incarcerated to stop ‘voter fraud’

Ex-prisoners get caught up in the state's accelerated voter fraud enforcement after officials help them enroll to vote

Just as it had been all day, courtroom 3C at the Alachua county courthouse was mostly empty when members of the jury filed in on Tuesday evening. John Boyd Rivers, a mason who once laid the bricks of the courthouse, stood up to hear whether or not they would convict him on two counts of voter fraud.

Judge James Colaw read the verdict on the first charge: not guilty. Then he read the verdict on the second: guilty. Rivers stood quietly as he listened, a small hole visible in the red long-sleeve shirt he wore to court over khaki pants and work boots.