Florida Amendment 6, Senate Districts and Redistricting Amendment (1942)

Florida Amendment 6
Election date November 3, 1942
Topic Redistricting policy
Status Defeated
Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

Florida Amendment 6 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Florida on November 3, 1942. It was defeated.

A “yes” vote supported providing for 40 Senate districts and redistricting every ten years.

A “no” vote opposed providing for 40 Senate districts and redistricting every ten years.

Election results

Florida Amendment 6
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		25,509	39.10%
No		39,727	60.90%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Amendment 6 was as follows:

“

Question 6 Constitutional Amendment Article VII, Section 3     To amend Section 3 of Article VII of the Florida Constitution relating to census and apportionment, providing that in the 1925 regular session of the Legislature and in each regular session every ten years thereafter, representation in the Senate shall be reapportioned to provide for forty senatorial districts as nearly equal in population as practical and that Broward County shall constitute the 39th senatorial district and that Calhoun and Gulf Counties shall constitute the 40th senatorial district.

”

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.

Constitutional changes

Section 3. The Legislature that shall meet in regular session A. D. 1925, and those that shall meet every ten years thereafter, shall apportion the representation in the Senate, and shall provide for forty (40) Senatorial Districts, such Districts to be as nearly equal in population as practicable, but no County shall be divided in making such apportionment, and each District shall have one Senator; provided that Broward County, Florida, shall constitute the Thirty-ninth (39th) Senatorial District, and Calhoun County, Florida, and Gulf County, Florida, shall constitute the Fortieth (40th) Senatorial District; and, at the same time, the Legislature shall also apportion the representation in the House of Representatives, and shall allow three (3) Representatives to each of the five most populous counties, and two (2) Representatives to each of the next eighteen more populous counties, and one Representative to each of the remaining counties of the State at the time of such apportionment. Should the Legislature fail to apportion the representation in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, at any regular session of the Legislature at any of the times herein designated, it shall be the duty of the Legislature or Legislatures succeeding such regular session of the Legislature, either in Special or Regular session, to apportion the representation in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, as herein provided. The preceding regular Federal or regular State Census, whichever shall have taken nearest any apportionment of Representatives in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, shall control in making such apportionment. In the event the Legislature shall fail to reapportion the representation in the Legislature as required by this amendment, the Governor shall (within thirty days after the adjournment of the regular session), call the Legislature together in extraordinary session to consider the question of reapportionment and such extraordinary session of the Legislature is hereby mandatorily required to reapportion the representation as required by this amendment before its adjournment (and such extraordinary session so called for reapportionment shall not be limited to expire at the end of twenty days or at all, until reapportionment is effected, and shall consider no business other than such reapportionment).

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

1942 Measures

• 1942 Measures
• Redistricting policy on the ballot
• 1942 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"
• The Miami Herald, "These Are the Nine Amendments Upon Which Voters Will Act In General Election On Tuesday," November 1, 1942