Florida Republicans have approved a measure that would allow people convicted of felonies to vote only if they repay all their financial obligations or if a judge or victim waives the debt.

The bill, which passed the Florida Senate on Thursday evening and the Florida House on Friday afternoon, is the latest step in a high-stakes battle over who will get to vote in the state. It will now go to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for approval. The governors office did not immediately respond to request for comment on the bill.

Voters in the state last year overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to repeal the states lifetime ban on voting for people convicted of most felonies once theyve completed all terms of their sentence including parole or probation.

Amendment 4, as the referendum is known, could affect an estimated 1.4 million people in the state, but civil rights groups and Democrats say Republicans are trying to limit its impact and effectively impose a poll tax on people who want to vote again.

Republicans argue that completing ones sentence includes repaying any restitution, fines and fees ordered by a judge. The measure the Legislature appears likely to approve would require complete repayment before someone can vote, but would allow someone to vote if a judge converts their obligation to community service hours they then complete. A judge, or the person or entity to whom the obligation is owed, could also waive it entirely.

Before Floridians approved the constitutional amendment, the only way someone could get their voting rights back was at the discretion of the governor. Under former Gov. Rick Scott (R), there was a backlog of thousands of people waiting to get a hearing, which could take years .

Giving the courts authority to waive fines and fees for voting purposes could create a tremendous backlog, Stanford Blake, a former Miami-Dade circuit court judge told the Miami Herald .

If you have potentially 1.5 million people [seeking changes to their sentence], is that going to create such a backlog that each court would have to designate a judge to hear all the applications for a waiver? he said.

The American Civil Liberties Union expressed similar concerns about how the process would actually play out.

The legislature just created the same roadblocks that were in place when returning citizens had to go through the clemency process to get their rights restored, said Kirk Bailey, political director of the ACLUs Florida chapter. They have created more delays and assured denials to the right to vote for people who are eligible under Amendment 4.