Florida Two-thirds Supermajority Vote Requirement for Amending State Constitution Initiative (2022)
| Florida Two-thirds Supermajority Vote Requirement for Amending State Constitution Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2022 | |
| Topic Direct democracy measures | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Two-thirds Supermajority Vote Requirement for Amending State Constitution Initiative (Initiative #19-05) was not on the ballot in Florida as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.[1]
Measure design
This measure would have changed the vote requirement to amend the state constitution to a two-thirds (66.67 percent) supermajority vote of the voters who vote in the election rather than 60 percent of voters who vote on the amendment.[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The proposed title was as follows:[1]
| “ | Requiring Broader Public Support For Constitutional Amendments[2] | ” |
Ballot summary
The proposed ballot summary was as follows:[3]
| “ | Changes the threshold to amend the state constitution to two-thirds (2/3) of the voters who vote in the election rather than 60 percent of voters who vote on the amendment. This proposal does not change the current requirement that an amendment imposing a new state tax or fee be approved by at least two-thirds (2/3) of the voters who vote in the election[2] | ” |
Full text
The full text can be accessed here.
Sponsors
Keep Our Constitution Clean PC sponsored initiative.[3]
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.[4] 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."[5]
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 approved for circulation on March 14, 2019.[3]
- The initiative was closed on September 27, 2021.[3]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Florida Department of Elections, "Initiative 19-05 text," accessed March 14, 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedinitiative - ↑ 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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