Florida Amendment 11, Nonpartisan School Board Elections, Ballot Access Requirements, Public Campaign Financing, and Election Processes Amendment (1998)

Florida Amendment 11
Election date November 3, 1998
Topic Campaign finance and Primary election participation
Status Approved
Type Commission-referred constitutional amendment	Origin State commission

Florida Amendment 11 was on the ballot as a commission-referred constitutional amendment in Florida on November 3, 1998. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported: making school board elections nonpartisan;  allowing candidates for governor to run in primary elections without a lieutenant governor;  providing that ballot access requirements for minor party candidates cannot be greater than requirements for major party candidates;  providing public campaign financing for statewide candidates who agree to campaign spending limits; and  allowing any voter to vote in any party's primary election if the winner will have no general election opponent.

A "no" vote opposed: making school board elections nonpartisan, thereby continuing to conduct partisan elections for school board candidates; allowing candidates for governor to run in primary elections without a lieutenant governor; providing that ballot access requirements for minor party candidates cannot be greater than requirements for major party candidates; providing public campaign financing for statewide candidates who agree to campaign spending limits; and allowing any voter to vote in any party's primary election if the winner will have no general election opponent.

Amendment 11 was one of nine ballot measures placed on the 1998 Florida ballot by the Florida Constitution Revision Commission.

Election results

Florida Amendment 11
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		2,239,607	64.12%
No		1,253,150	35.88%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Amendment 11 was as follows:

“

BALLOT ACCESS, PUBLIC CAMPAIGN FINANCING, AND ELECTION PROCESS REVISIONS Provides ballot access requirements for independent and minor party candidates cannot be greater than requirements for majority party candidates; allows all voters, regardless of party, to vote in any party's primary election if the winner will have no general election opposition; provides public financing of campaigns for statewide candidates who agree to campaign spending limits; permits candidates for governor to run in primary elections without lieutenant governor; makes school board elections nonpartisan; corrects voting age.

”

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.

Support

Supporters

Former Officials

• Florida School Boards Association Executive Director Ed Pozzuoli

Organizations

• Common Cause Florida

Individuals

• Wayne Blanton - Broward Republican Party Chair

Arguments

• Broward Republican Party Chair Ed Pozzuoli: Pozzuoli said that nonpartisan elections should help keep the focus on the children. He said, "It doesn't make a difference if a child is a Republican or Democrat if he can't read or write."
• Florida School Boards Association Executive Director Wayne Blanton: "Although we'll never get politics totally out of the arena, I think that it will enhance public perception."

Opposition

Opponents

Former Officials

• Broward County School Board Member Judie Budnick
• Lake County School Board Member Jimmy Conner
• Former Lake County School Board Member and Florida Constitution Revision Commission Appointee Dick Langley
• Broward County School Board Member Bob Parks

Arguments

• Former Lake County School Board Member and Florida Constitution Revision Commission Appointee Dick Langley: "When you do these kinds of things, you are killing the strength of the two-party system."
• Broward County School Board Member Judie Budnick: "People become disenfranchised and uncomfortable. By having a party label, they can say, 'that person is like me.' It gives an identity rather than an identity crisis."
• Broward County School Board Member Bob Parks: "In a perfect world, a nonpartisan race would be fine, but in reality, one of the reasons that you have political parties is to identify or to support philosophoes of that party and that's how you get promoted."
• Lake County School Board Member Jimmy Conner: "I am absolutely for partisan elections. Political parties mean something. They show your philosophy."

Path to the ballot

This amendment was referred to the ballot by the Florida Constitution Revision Commission. The commission voted 24-12 to refer the measure to the ballot.

See also

1998 Measures

• 1998 Measures
• Primary election systems on the ballot
• Public education governance on the ballot
• Campaign finance on the ballot
• Primary election participation on the ballot
• 1998 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 Division of Elections, "Initiatives / Amendments / Revisions Database"