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Florida Automatic Voter Registration Initiative (2022)
| Florida Automatic Voter Registration Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2022 | |
| Topic Suffrage | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Florida Automatic Voter Registration Initiative (Initiative #21-10) was not on the ballot in Florida as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.
Measure design
The initiative would have provided that a person would be automatically registered to vote or have their voter registration updated when their driver's license or ID card is given, renewed, updated, or replaced.[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The proposed title was as follows:[1]
| “ | A Voter Registration Method for Eligible Floridians[2] | ” |
Ballot summary
The proposed ballot summary was as follows:[1]
| “ | A U.S. citizen eligible to vote in Florida shall be registered to vote or have their existing registration updated by submitting an application for a new, renewed, updated, or replacement Florida driver’s license or ID card, unless they check a box to opt out of voter registration. The person shall not be required to select registration in order to be registered to vote or update registration. This amendment does not change voting eligibility requirements.[2] | ” |
Full text
The full text can be accessed here.
Sponsors
Our Votes Matter sponsored the initiative.[1]
Background
Automatic voter registration
As of December 23, 2020, 20 states and the District of Columbia had enacted automatic voter registration policies. See the map below.[3][4]
| Automatic voter registration, December 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State | Year enacted | Year implemented | Authorizing legislation |
| Alaska | 2016 | 2017 | Alaska Voter Registration via the Permanent Fund Dividend Application, Ballot Measure 1 (2016) |
| California[5] | 2015 | 2016 | AB 1461 |
| Colorado | 2017 | 2017 | Enacted through administrative rules |
| Connecticut | 2016 | 2018[6] | Enacted through administrative rules |
| District of Columbia[7] | 2016 | 2018[8] | B21-0194 |
| Georgia | 2016 | 2016 | Enacted through administrative rules |
| Illinois | 2017 | 2017-2019 | SB 1933 |
| Maine | 2019 | 2022 | HB 1070 |
| Maryland | 2018 | 2019 | SB 1048 |
| Massachusetts | 2018 | 2020 | HB 4834 |
| Michigan | 2018 | 2019 | Proposal 3 |
| New Jersey | 2018 | 2018-2019 | A 2014 |
| New Mexico | Unknown | 2018 | N/A |
| New York | 2020 | 2023-2025 | S.8806 |
| Nevada | 2018 | To be determined | Question 5 |
| Oregon[9] | 2015 | 2016 | HB 2177 |
| Rhode Island[10] | 2017 | 2018[8] | H5702 |
| Vermont[11] | 2016 | 2017 | H 458 |
| Virginia | 2020 | Unclear | HB235/SB219 |
| Washington[12] | 2018 | 2018 | HB 2595 |
| West Virginia[13] | 2016 | 2019[8] | HB 4013 |
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Florida, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 8% of the votes cast in the preceding presidential election. Florida also has a signature distribution requirement, which requires that signatures equaling at least 8% of the district-wide vote in the last presidential election be collected from at least half (14) of the state's 28 congressional districts. Signatures remain valid until February 1 of an even-numbered year.[14] Signatures must be verified by February 1 of the general election year the initiative aims to appear on the ballot.
Proposed measures are reviewed by the state attorney general and state supreme court after proponents collect 25% of the required signatures across the state in each of one-half of the state's congressional districts (222,898 signatures for 2024 ballot measures). After these preliminary signatures have been collected, the secretary of state must submit the proposal to the Florida Attorney General and the Financial Impact Estimating Conference (FIEC). The attorney general is required to petition the Florida Supreme Court for an advisory opinion on the measure's compliance with the single-subject rule, the appropriateness of the title and summary, and whether or not the measure "is facially invalid under the United States Constitution."[15]
The requirements to get an initiative certified for the 2022 ballot:
- Signatures: 891,589 valid signatures
- Deadline: The deadline for signature verification was February 1, 2022. As election officials have 30 days to check signatures, petitions should be submitted at least one month before the verification deadline.
In Florida, proponents of an initiative file signatures with local elections supervisors, who are responsible for verifying signatures. Supervisors are permitted to use random sampling if the process can estimate the number of valid signatures with 99.5% accuracy. Enough signatures are considered valid if the random sample estimates that at least 115% of the required number of signatures are valid.
Details about the initiative
- The initiative was sponsored by Our Votes Matter and was approved for circulation on May 28, 2021.[1]
- The measure was withdrawn on September 21, 2021. At the time, 73 valid signatures for the initiative had been filed with the Division of Elections.[1]
See also
External links
- Florida Division of Elections: Initiatives, Amendments, and Revisions database
- Initiative 21-10 information
- Initiative 21-10 full text
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Florida Department of Elections, "Initiative 20-10," accessed June 3, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Automatic Voter Registration," April 22, 2019
- ↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "Automatic Voter Registration," February 10, 2018
- ↑ California Legislative Information, "AB 1461," accessed March 25, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut Office of Legislative Research, "Automatic Voter Registration in Connecticut," December 21, 2017
- ↑ Council of the District of Columbia, "B21-0194 - Automatic Voter Registration Amendment Act of 2015," accessed March 25, 2017
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Brennan Center for Justice, "Automatic Voter Registration," April 17, 2018
- ↑ Oregon Legislative Assembly, "House Bill 2177," accessed March 25, 2017
- ↑ Rhode Island General Assembly, "H 5702," accessed July 20, 2017
- ↑ Vermont General Assembly, "H. 458," accessed March 25, 2017
- ↑ Washington State Legislature, "HB 2595 - 2017-18," accessed May 17, 2017
- ↑ West Virginia Legislature, "House Bill 4013," accessed March 25, 2017
- ↑ Before the passage of Florida Senate Bill 1794 of 2020, signatures remained valid for a period of two years
- ↑ Florida State Senate, "Florida Senate Bill 1794," accessed April 13, 2020
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