Florida Voter Eligibility Amendment (1916)

Florida Voter Eligibility Amendment
Election date November 7, 1916
Topic Suffrage
Status Defeated
Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

Florida Voter Eligibility Amendment was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Florida on November 7, 1916. It was defeated.

A “yes” vote supported amending the eligibility rules for the right to vote.

A “no” vote opposed amending the eligibility rules for the right to vote.

Election results

Florida Voter Eligibility Amendment
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		10,518	34.82%
No		19,688	65.18%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Voter Eligibility Amendment was as follows:

“

Constitutional Amendment, Article VI, Section 1, Relating to Suffrage and Eligibility.

”

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.

Constitutional changes

Section 1. Every male person of the age of twenty-one years and upwards who is a citizen of the United States at the time he applies to register shall be deemed a qualified elector at all elections under the Constitution of the State of Florida, provided, that he possesses the following additional qualifications: He shall have resided and had his permanent home and place of abode in the State of Florida for one year, and in the county wherein he applies to register for six months, previous thereto. He must be able to read, write and interpret any Section of the Constitution of the State of Florida at the time he applies to register and vote. He must own in his own right property to the value of not less than five hundred dollars, which fact shall be determined only by the assessment books of the county at the time he applies to register and vote. He must not have been convicted, previous to the time he applies to register or vote, of larceny, robbery, forgery, perjury or bribery in any of the courts of any State or of the United States, or if so convicted, he must have been restored to the rights of citizenship. Provided, however, That no person or lineal descendant of any such person who was on January first, 1867, or prior thereto, entitled to vote under the Constitutions and laws of any of the States or Territories, or entitled to vote under any form of government, or any naturalized citizen or his descendants, shall be denied the right to register and vote because he shall not be able to read, write and interpret any Section of the Constitution of the State of Florida, as above provided, or because he shall not own property of the value above specified; naturalized citizens of the United States, however, at the time they apply, and before they shall be admitted to register, shall present to the registration officer certificate of his naturalization, or a duly authenticated copy thereof. Section 2. Upon the adoption of this amendment to the Constitution, the Legislature shall enact appropriate laws to carry the purpose of this amendment into effect.

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

1916 Measures

• 1916 Measures
• Suffrage on the ballot
• 1916 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 Fort Myers Daily Press, "SAMPLE BALLOT," November 6, 1916