The Supreme Court refused to hold an emergency hearing on a case relating to the restoration of voting rights to as many as 1.4 million felons in Florida, reports the Washington Post.

Lawyers for Campaign Legal Center in Washington had sought a special hearing on an 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision to put a hold on the ability of felons to vote until after it heard arguments in August.

The case revolves around a 2018 referendum to restore voting rights to felons who have completed their sentences.  Sixty-five percent of Florida voters favored the reestablishment of voting rights to these felons, excluding those who convicted of murder or felony sex crimes.

Florida’s republicans, however, instituted a series of maneuvers designed to make registering to vote difficult or impossible for these voters.

Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order that demanded felons pay outstanding fees, fines and court costs in order to reestablish their voting rights.

The problem, found US District Judge Robert Hinkle, was that Florida lacked any ability to tell former felons accurately what outstanding monies were owed, what they were for, and who should be paid–some of which would not be considered part of a court sentence.  This, Hinkle determined, amounted to an unconstitutional poll tax designed to bar these citizens from voting.

In a strange-for-these-times twist, a three judge panel from the normally conservative 11th Circuit upheld Hinkle’s decision twice before the full Court ruled last week to freeze any registrations until an August hearing.

While the ruling does not rule out former felons getting to vote in the future, it dims the hope that they will be able to register and vote in the coming presidential election.