Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Florida Prohibit Captive Wildlife Hunting and Game Farms Initiative (2022)
Florida Prohibit Captive Wildlife Hunting and Game Farms Initiative | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Election date November 8, 2022 | |
Topic Hunting and fishing and Treatment of animals | |
Status Not on the ballot | |
Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Florida Prohibit Captive Wildlife Hunting and Game Farms Initiative (Initiative #20-07) was not on the ballot in Florida as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.
Measure design
The initiative would have prohibited captive wildlife hunting (defined), also knows as game farm hunting, and provide that such activities would result in a third-degree felony.[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The proposed title was as follows:[1]
“ | FLORIDA ICONIC SPECIES PROTECTION[2] | ” |
Ballot summary
The proposed ballot summary was as follows:[1]
“ | Enhances protection for the Florida Black Bear, Florida Panther, Manatee, Key Deer, Florida Scrub Jay, Bald Eagle, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Bottlenose Dolphin, Right Whale, and Marine Turtles iconic to Florida by banning recreational and commercial hunting of those species, providing a private right of action and standing for Florida citizens to preserve Florida’s Iconic Species and their habitat, protecting the biodiversity of the State, and conserving the State’s symbolic, natural, and cultural heritage.[2] | ” |
Full text
The full text can be accessed here.
Support
FL5.org sponsored the initiative, as well as four other related measures. The five initiatives filed by FL5.org were:[3]
- Right to Clean Water Initiative (#21-03)
- Prohibit Dredging, Filling, and Degradation of Wetlands Initiative (#21-04)
- Prohibit Construction and Expansion of Toll Roads on Rural and Conservation Lands (#21-05)
- Preservation Efforts and Hunting Bans for Certain Florida Animals (#21-06)
- Prohibit Captive Wildlife Hunting and Game Farms Initiative (#21-07)
The campaign provided a full list of endorsements on its website, which can be accessed here.
Supporters
- Joseph Bonasia, Vice-Chair and SWFL Regional Director of the Florida Rights of Nature Movement[4]
- Save Our Rivers[5]
- Broward for Progress[5]
- Earth Ethics[5]
- Physicians for Social Responsibility[5]
- Noah's Notes[5]
- Florida Springs Council[5]
- SWFL Reset Center[5]
- Florida Rights of Nature[5]
Arguments
- Joseph Bonasia, Vice-Chair and SWFL Regional Director of the Florida Rights of Nature Movement, said, "The Right to Clean Water and other four constitutional amendments of FL5.org are a response to the fact that our environmental regulatory system clearly isn’t working, and Floridians want our waterways and ecosystems protected. Look at Orange County, where 89 percent of voters approved their Right to Clean Water Charter Amendment last year. 89 percent! That shows how highly Floridians value clean water and healthy ecosystems, how vital we know they are to our health and economy, how frustrated we are with a system that has failed us for decades, and how citizens are ready to provide the necessary protections themselves. These amendments are about empowering citizens to act effectively to protect our natural treasures when the system doesn’t."[4]
Opposition
If you are aware of any opponents or opposing arguments, please send an email with a link to editor@ballotpedia.org.
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.[6] 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."[7]
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 FL5.org and was approved for circulation on May 20, 2021.[1]
- Sponsors did not submit the required number of signatures to qualify for the ballot by the deadline on February 1, 2022.[1]
See also
External links
- Florida Division of Elections: Initiatives, Amendments, and Revisions database
- Initiative 20-07 information
- Initiative 20-07 full text
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Florida Department of Elections, "Initiative 20-07," accessed May 24, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "Initiatives database," accessed July 20, 2021
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Bradenton Times, "Gamechanger? FL5.org Seeks 5 Referendums for 2022," accessed July 20, 2021
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 FL5.org, "Endorsements," accessed July 20, 2021
- ↑ 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
![]() |
State of Florida Tallahassee (capital) |
---|---|
Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |