Florida taxpayers have spent more than $1.7 million, and are on the hook for hundreds of thousands more, in the state’s defense of a 2019 law requiring felons to pay “legal financial obligations” to be eligible to vote, according to state records.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has authorized more than $2.3 million in contracts with private lawyers, including a $265,000 agreement with Washington, D.C.-based Cooper & Kirk law firm, to represent the state in a federal appeals court, the records show.