Come Jan. 8, Edward Barnes and 1.4 million other Floridians become eligible once again to register to vote.

Although Amendment 4, restoring felons' voting rights, passed with 64.5 percent of the vote on Nov. 6, another hoop for advocates appears to be emerging.

Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis, who opposed it before the election, told GateHouse Media the amendment can't take effect until lawmakers settle on "implementing language," when they begin the next session.

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“They’re going to be able to do that in March,” DeSantis said, referring to the 60-day legislative session that begins March 5. “There’s no way you can go through this session without implementing it.”

This has advocates bracing for a legal challenge.

"The amendment is self-executing," said Melba Pearson, deputy director of the ACLU of Florida. "There is no role for the Legislature to play. The ballot language was designed so there would not be the need for anyone to get involved. It was upheld by the Supreme Court of Florida."

Applications welcome

County election supervisors say they are preparing to take voter registration applications on Jan. 8, when groups including the Daytona Beach branch of the NAACP are planning registration drives.

"As far as the elections supervisors are concerned, it will be as is. We process the applications," Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Lisa Lewis said.

[READ MORE: Voter-backed Amendment 4 lets felons register to vote starting in January]

Kaiti Lenhart, the elections supervisor in Flagler County, concurred.

"In Flagler County, nothing changes," she said. "We are going to continue to register new voters."

It's at the state level where questions arise. Agencies must sign off on a voter's eligibility by determining that the felonies aren't murder or a sex-related felony, and that all obligations imposed as part of a sentence have been met.

"We haven’t heard much from the Division of Elections regarding timelines of implementation," Lenhart said. "It's my understanding that a process will be in place by the deadline."

Lewis said she is hopeful the process will be ready to roll by Jan. 8.

During a recent talk to the Democratic Club of Northeast Volusia in Daytona Beach, Lewis spoke of a conversation she'd had with a Department of Corrections official, whom she'd asked whether the agency has the information that can verify a felon's eligibility.

Lewis told the official "you ought to be able to flip a switch so when they register, it comes back to us as a good registration, they’ll get their voter information card and all is well.'" But the Department of Corrections official told her some investigation was necessary before the clearance for the registration could be given.

The Department of Corrections' Office of Communications declined to answer questions, other than to say that it "does not have any existing database" detailing offenders who've completed all of the terms of their sentences.

Sarah Revell, a spokeswoman with the Department of State, was equally opaque in an emailed response to questions.

"The Florida Department of State will abide by any future direction from the Executive Clemency Board or the Florida Legislature regarding necessary action or implementing legislation to ensure full compliance with the law," Revell wrote.

Cynthia Slater, president of the Daytona Beach branch of the NAACP, considers Amendment 4 the "emancipation of ex-felons," some of whom have been off probation for as long as 20 years without getting their rights restored.

Under Gov. Rick Scott, felons had to wait at least seven years before requesting restoration of their rights. The Executive Clemency Board, comprised of the Cabinet, restored rights to the lowest percentage of blacks and the highest percentage of Republicans in 50 years, a Palm Beach Post analysis published in October found.

[SEE: Florida felon voting rights: Who got theirs back under Scott?]

"All of the organizations who fought for this are on the same page," Slater said. "This amendment is now in the Florida Constitution as of Jan. 8. ... For the governor to want to put a hold, a two- or three-months hold on this is unacceptable."

Pearson, with the ACLU, said the restoration of rights is "clearly the will of the people," and some municipalities have spring elections.

“If a supervisor doesn’t process them, they are now disenfranchising people who are otherwise eligible to vote because of inaction on the part of the government," she said. "This is highly problematic.

"We have mobilized our legal team," she said. "If we see that, we will have all options available."

A felon's anticipation

Barnes — a 60-year-old former middle school teacher who lived for 20 years in Daytona Beach but now calls New Smyrna Beach home — intends to make his citizenship whole again by registering to vote.

He lost that right when he became a convicted felon, serving several stretches in prison, including, most recently a 4½-year sentence for burglary and dealing in stolen goods that he attributes to a drug and alcohol problem.

Barnes says he has turned things around. He's volunteered for social-justice causes in his community, the predominantly black section of New Smyrna Beach known as Westside. He's gone to City Commission meetings and worked to gather petitions for the proposal that eventually became Amendment 4.

Having to wait beyond Jan. 8 would be "ludicrous," he said.

"Why should we have to wait a month or two, or whatever?" Barnes said. "I would like to do that now."