Florida Amendment 7, Dade County Commissioners Districts Amendment (1942)

Florida Amendment 7
Election date November 3, 1942
Topic County and municipal governance
Status Approved
Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

Florida Amendment 7 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Florida on November 3, 1942. It was approved.

A “yes” vote supported providing for redistricting of Dade County Commissioners Districts.

A “no” vote opposed providing for redistricting of Dade County Commissioners Districts.

Election results

Florida Amendment 7
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		37,579	54.24%
No		31,707	45.76%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Amendment 7 was as follows:

“

Question 7 Constitutional Amendment Article VIII     To amend Article VIII of the Florida Constitution by adding section 11 providing for re-districting the County Commissioners Districts of Dade County, providing that each County Commissioner shall reside in his district but shall be nominated and elected from the count at large and fixing their terms of office.

”

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.

Constitutional changes

Section 11. The County Commissioners of Dade County who shall be elected at the general election in 1942 shall, immediately after the beginning of their terms of office, redistrict Dade County into five County Commissioners' Districts to be numbered by the said Commissioners from one to five respectively, and delineate the boundaries of such Districts in such manner as to include within the respective Districts territory as follows: One of the said Commissioners' Districts shall comprise the territory which was on the first day of April, 1941, embraced within Election Precincts numbered 24 to 32, inclusive, and also such parts of Election Precincts numbered 10, 56, 60 and 61 as lie East of the Western shore of Biscayne Bay, all as established by a resolution of the County Commissioners of said County adopted November 14, 1939, designated as Resolution No. 1077; Another of the said Districts shall comprise the territory, and only the territory, which was on the first day of April, 1941, embraced in Commissioners' District No. 4 and Commissioners' District No. 5, as described in Book "F" of the Minutes of the County Commissioners of said County, at page 194 et seq.; Another of the said Commissioners' Districts shall comprise the territory which was on the first day of April, 1941, embraced in Commissioners' District No. 1, as described in Book "F" of the Minutes of the County Commissioners of said County, at page 194 et seq., and also all the territory which was on the first day of April, 1941, embraced in Election Precincts numbered 75 to 82, inclusive, as established by the aforesaid Resolution No. 1077; Another of the said Districts shall comprise the territory which was on the first day of April, 1941, embraced in Commissioners' District No. 3, as described in Book "F" of the Minutes of the County Commissioners of said County, at page 194 et seq., except the territory embraced in the aforesaid Election Precincts numbered 75 to 82, inclusive, and 26 to 32, inclusive, and except such parts of Election Precincts numbered 56, 60 and 61 as lie East of the Western shore of Biscayne Bay. Another of the said Commissioners' Districts shall comprise the territory which was on the first day of April, 1941, embraced in Commissioners' District No. 2 as described in Book "F" of the Minutes of the County Commissioners of said County, at page 194 et seq., except the territory embraced in the aforesaid Election Precincts numbered 24 and 25, and such part of Election Precinct number 10 as lies East of the Western shore of Biscayne Bay. The County Commissioners who shall be elected in Dade County at the general election in 1942 shall hold office for the term of two years for which they shall have been elected and their terms of office shall not be affected by this amendment; but thereafter there shall be in each of the Districts established by, and in pursuance of, this amendment a County Commissioner who shall reside in his District but who shall be nominated and elected from the County at large. Every County Commissioner of Dade County who shall be elected at the general election in 1944 and thereafter shall hold office for a term of four years. The powers, duties and compensation of such County commissioners shall be as from time to time provided by law.

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
• County and municipal governance 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