Florida lawmakers met for the first time this week to begin to figure out how exactly to implement a historic measure approved by voters making it easier for felons to get the right to vote back.

In November, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment that did away with the states policy of permanently disenfranchising people with felony convictions a move that could affect up to 1.4 million people. On its face, the amendment seems relatively uncomplicated: Those who complete all terms of their sentence gets their voting rights automatically restored, except for people convicted of felony murder and sexual offenses.

But during a meeting Tuesday in Tallahassee, lawmakers, advocates, and state and local officials discussed the complications of actually implementing the amendment. Which specific crimes, they asked, amount to a disqualifying murder offense? Does someone have to repay all fines and fees to complete their sentence entirely? And how can officials set up a system to allow people with felony convictions who might be wary of registering to easily check to see if they are eligible to vote?

The constitutional measure, often called Amendment 4, officially went into effect on Jan. 8, but election officials said they have gotten little guidance from the state on how to implement it (many are accepting voter registration forms from anyone who indicates they are eligible). The meeting Tuesday underscored the complex road for the state in figuring out the details of how the system will work.

The implementation also may grow more challenging. On Thursday, newly appointed Florida Secretary of State Michael Ertel (R), the states top election official, resigned after a photograph of him in blackface became public.

Some activists are also worried that the Florida Legislature which has a history of muting the effect of constitutional amendments will gut Amendment 4 by expanding the number of crimes exempt from automatic restoration of voting rights or making it more burdensome to regain those rights. Those concerns were heightened when Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) suggested the amendment should be delayed until lawmakers figure out a process for restoring voting rights.

On Tuesday, state Sen Jeff Brandes (R) pressed Neil Volz, the political director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, which pushed strongly for Amendment 4, to explain whom the drafters of the amendment intended to exclude when they exempted people convicted of murder from voting. Volz said the exclusion only applied to people convicted of first-degree murder.

Murder means murder, he said.

But lawmakers expressed skepticism about why the amendment would distinguish between first-degree murder and second-degree murder.

State Sen. Keith Perry (R), the chair of the criminal justice committee, said he thought Volz was confused and that it wouldnt make sense not to include second-degree murder, especially if violent sexual crimes were on that list of exemptions.

Personally, I clearly think murder, first degree or second degree, would be included, Perry said in a telephone interview. Theres a difference between the premeditation and doing it... you wouldnt think a violent sexual offense would be more than second-degree murder.