Apparently, Republican Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is determined to further the state’s reputation as a hostile environment in which to vote in presidential elections. That, or he believes that most felons are Democrats. Either way, his belated executive order restoring voting rights to felons who have served their time just five weeks before the deadline to register to vote in the November election smacks of vote-rigging.

He was asked to issue the order last December by the American Civil Liberties Union, but waited until this week to actually do something about it. According to the Orlando Sentinel, only 9,000 of the 112,000 felons who would be eligible to vote actually have registered. There’s a whole process of reinstating one’s civil rights that has to be completed before a convicted felon can even register to vote in Florida, and that takes time.

Seems Charlie Crist figures that by kissing a girl and rigging the system so that nearly 100,000 Floridians will be denied the opportunity to vote in the upcoming election he will earn the chance to be John McCain’s running mate. Fat chance, Charlie.

Crist had better hope he never gets nailed for a felony, or he’ll be the Sweetheart of Cellblock C in a Tallahassee minute.