Anyone who registers to vote must fill out a form including the phrase, “I affirm that I am not a convicted felon, or if I am, my right to vote has been restored.”

LAKELAND — Though the process of restoring felons' voting rights seems in limbo at the state level, Polk County Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards said her office will continue to handle voter applications as it always has.

“There won't be a change here at the local level,” she said. “It used to be — before Jan. 8 (2019) — you had to have your rights restored by the governor and cabinet. Now the right to vote has been restored by meeting the criteria in Amendment 4. That's where the change is; the change really isn't in my office.”

Anyone who registers to vote must fill out a form including the phrase, “I affirm that I am not a convicted felon, or if I am, my right to vote has been restored.”

Edwards said her office does not investigate to ensure that those who check the box are actually eligible to vote — that's done by the Florida Division of Elections in Tallahassee.

Until recently, Edwards said, the Division of Elections conducted regular reviews of voter registrations, checking to make sure any applicant either had no felony record or had their voting rights restored by the state. If an application was flagged, the agency sent all pertinent records to the county elections office.

At that point, Edwards said, her office carefully checked the records and, if they were found to be accurate, notified the applicant that his or her name would be removed from the voting roll. That process, typically taking up to 90 days, gave the voter a chance to challenge any possible mistakes.

The ballot language said the amendment would take effect Jan. 8. But Ron DeSantis, Florida's governor-elect, said last week that he wants the state Legislature to pass bills with “implementing language” for him to sign into law.

The legislative session doesn't begin until March.

Amendment 4 received approval from 64.6 percent of Florida voters in November. The measure proposed that Floridians with felony records — except for those convicted of murder or sexual crimes — would automatically become eligible to vote after completing their sentences.

Sarah Revell, a Division of Elections spokeswoman, said only county election supervisors are allowed to remove voters from rolls.

Edwards said the Division of Elections stopped sending those reports around Dec. 1. She said an official with the state agency informed election supervisors that the department was “pausing” the process during their state convention in Sarasota in late November.

Edwards has publicly expressed frustration with the Division of Elections for not providing specific guidance about how to handle applications from ex-felons following the passage of Amendment 4. She questioned the agency's decision to suspend the felony reports, noting that those convicted of murder or sexual offenses remain ineligible to vote.

Edwards said her office has received dozens of phone calls since Election Day from people in two groups — residents with felony records asking how they can register to vote and people from organizations seeking to help newly eligible voters get registered.

Lakeland has a special election Jan. 15 to fill a City Commission vacancy. Registration for that election closed Monday.

The next municipal elections take place April 2. Registrations are accepted until 29 days before the election, Elections Office spokeswoman Betsy Cleveland said.

Unless there is a problem with the forms, an application in January would be processed by April, Cleveland said.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.