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Florida Right to Clean Water Initiative (2026)
| Florida Right to Clean Water Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November3, 2026 | |
| Topic Constitutional rights and Environment | |
| Status Cleared for signature gathering | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Florida Right to Clean Water Initiative (Initiative #24-03) may appear on the ballot in Florida as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2026.
Measure design
The initiative would create a "fundamental right to clean and healthy waters," (as defined) in the state constitution and give legal standing to residents, non-governmental organizations, or government entities to sue in order to enforce or defend such rights.[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title is as follows:[1]
| “ | Right to Clean and Healthy Waters[2] | ” |
Ballot summary
The proposed ballot summary was as follows:[1]
| “ | This amendment creates an enforceable, fundamental right to clean and healthy waters, authorizing a person to sue for equitable relief when a State executive agency, by action or inaction, allows harm or threat of harm to Florida waters. This amendment provides for strict judicial scrutiny of such action or inaction; adds to available remedies; identifies affected constitutional provisions; provides for enforcement; defines terms; and requires attorney’s fees and costs to prevailing plaintiffs. | ” |
Full text
The full text can be accessed here.
Sponsors
Florida Right to Clean Water.org sponsored the initiative.[1]
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.[3] 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."[4]
The requirements to get an initiative certified for the 2026 ballot:
- Signatures: 880,062 valid signatures is required.
- Deadline: The deadline for signature verification is February 1, 2026. Officials have 30 days to check signatures.
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 approved for circulation on March 8, 2024.[1]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Florida Department of Elections, "Initiative 24-03," accessed March 11, 2024
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 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
