Florida Amendment 1, Apportionment and Number of Legislatures Amendment (1962)

Florida Amendment 1
Election date November 6, 1962
Topic Redistricting policy and State legislatures measures
Status Defeated
Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

Florida Amendment 1 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Florida on November 6, 1962. It was defeated.

A “yes” vote supported providing for the apportionment and number of legislatures in the House of Representatives and Senate.

A “no” vote opposed providing for the apportionment and number of legislatures in the House of Representatives and Senate.

Election results

Florida Amendment 1
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		306,442	45.08%
No		373,259	54.92%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Amendment 1 was as follows:

“

NO. 1 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE VII Proposing an amendment to Article VII of the Constitution providing for apportionment of the Florida Legislature, providing that the House of Representatives shall consisted of one hundred thirty-five member and the Senate shall consist of forty-six member and providing that the Legislature shall reapportion again in 1971 and every ten years thereafter.

”

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.

Constitutional changes

Section 1. Composition of the Legislature. The Legislature of Florida shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives. Members of the Senate shall be elected for a term of four (4) years and members of the House of Representatives shall be elected for a term of two (2) years. The term of members of the Legislature shall expire on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each regular election year. Members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives shall be elected as provided by law. Any new county that may be created shall be entitled to one (1) member in the House of Representatives in excess of any limit prescribed in the following sections of this article until the next reapportionment and the county shall be assigned when created to a senatorial district as determined by the Legislature. Section 2. Senate. The Senate shall consist of 45 members, each representing a numbered district. 23 districts shall be the 23 most populous counties according to the latest Federal decennial census, the 22 districts shall be created by the Legislature from the remaining counties so as to achieve equitable representation among them; provided, however, not more than three (3) counties shall be included in any one district. No county shall be divided in creating a district. No county shall be separated from the remainder of the district of which it is a part by more than a county which was formerly a part of said district as of 1961. Hereafter, each county not included in the original 23 most populous according to the 1960 census, shall become a new district when its population reaches 50,000 according to the Federal decennial census, and the membership of the Senate shall be increased as necessary to secure such result; each county among the most populous 23 according to the 1960 Federal census shall continue to constitute a district so long as its population does not decrease below that of the 1960 Federal census. Section 3. House of Representatives. The House of Representatives shall be composed of 104 members apportioned as follows: The most populous county shall have five (5) representatives; the next three (3) most populous counties shall have four (4) representatives each; the next five (5) most populous counties shall have three (3) representatives each; the next fourteen (14) most populous counties shall have two (2) representatives each; and the remaining counties of the state shall each have one (1) representative. Section 4. Legislative Apportionment. The 1963 Legislature shall be composed of the legislators elected pursuant to the Constitution of 1885, as amended, and of the additional legislators as provided for herein. If this article is ratified at the general election in November, 1962, the legislature shall be apportioned according to an apportionment bill passed at the 1961 session of the legislature, provided nothing in this amendment shall prohibit any representative elected in the 1962 general election pursuant to the Constitution of 1885, as amended, from serving in said office for the term for which he was elected, and the additional legislative offices herein created shall be filled by and at a special election to be held in the affected counties or districts, as provided by law, such election to be held within one hundred and twenty (120) days after the effective date hereof. The senators elected from the new even-numbered districts shall be elected for a term of four (4) years and the new senators elected from the odd-numbered districts shall be elected for a term of two (2) years; thereafter all senators shall be elected for four (4) year terms. The legislature shall reapportion its representation in accordance with this article at the 1971 regular session of the legislature and every ten years thereafter based upon the preceding latest federal decennial census. In the event the legislature shall fail to reapportion the representation as required by this article, the governor shall within thirty (30) days after the adjournment of any regular session call the legislature together in extraordinary session to consider the question of reapportionment, and such extraordinary session shall mandatorily be required to reapportion its membership before adjournment, and such extraordinary session so called shall not expire until reapportionment is effected and shall consider no business other than reapportionment. Section 5. State Census. The legislature shall no longer be required to provide for an enumeration of the inhabitants of the state. The last preceding decennial federal census beginning with the federal census of 1950 shall also be the state census and shall control in all population acts and constitutional apportionments, unless otherwise ordered by the legislature.

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Florida Constitution

A 60% vote was required during one legislative session for the Florida State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounted to a minimum of 51 votes in the Florida House of Representatives and 18 votes in the Florida State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments did not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot. Amendments on the ballot required a simple majority vote in this year.

See also

1962 Measures

• 1962 Measures
• State legislatures measures on the ballot
• Redistricting policy on the ballot
• 1962 legislative sessions

Florida

• Florida ballot measures
• Florida ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Florida Constitution Revision Commission, "Florida's Constitutions: The Documentary History"
• Sarasota Herald-Tribune, "SAMPLE BALLOT," November 5, 1962