A federal judge on Thursday ruled that Florida’s process for ex-felons to restore their voting rights is unconstitutional, a major upset for one of the few remaining states that permanently disenfranchises convicted felons — even after they’ve served their sentence.“Florida strips the right to vote from every man and woman who commits a felony,” wrote U.S. District Court Judge Mark Walker in his ruling. “To vote again, disenfranchised citizens must kowtow before a panel of high-level government officials over which Florida’s government has absolute veto authority.”Walker’s decision doesn’t address the legality of permanent felon disenfranchisement itself, instead declaring unconstitutional the arbitrary way in which felons must request the restoration of their voting rights. Before the ruling, convicted felons were required to individually petition the governor asking for their rights to be restored — but not before five years after their release.Read more: Felons could be the swing vote in Roy Moore's Senate RaceMore than 1.5 million Floridians are currently barred from voting due to felony convictions, comprising some 20 percent of voting age black Floridians. Walker’s ruling doesn’t change that, but it does lay some of the groundwork for an upcoming ballot measure that Floridians will vote on this November. The measure proposes amending the state constitution so that Floridians with felony convictions would have their voting rights restored after completing the terms of their sentence, which includes parole or probation. The measure must get 60 percent of the vote to pass and could have a tremendous impact on the electorate in an important swing state.Florida, Iowa, Kentucky and Virginia are the only states that permanently disenfranchise convicts with felons.