Laws governing ballot measures in Florida
From Ballotpedia
This page provides an overview of resources addressing the laws and procedures that govern statewide and local ballot measures in Florida, including the initiative and referendum process, constitutional amendments, signature requirements, recall procedures, and campaign finance regulations.
Explore the links below for more information:
- Types of ballot measures in Florida
- Laws governing the initiative process in Florida
- Amending the Florida Constitution
- Laws governing local ballot measures in Florida
- Signature requirements for ballot measures in Florida
- Laws governing recall in Florida
- Laws governing state constitutional conventions in Florida
- Campaign finance requirements for Florida ballot measures
- Changes to laws governing ballot measures in Florida
Laws governing ballot measures in Florida
Types of ballot measures in Florida
- Florida has two types of citizen-initiated ballot measures: initiated constitutional amendments and Constitutional convention questions
- In Florida, the legislature can refer constitutional amendments and advisory questions to the ballot.
- According to Article XI of the Florida Constitution, the Florida Constitution Revision Commission can refer constitutional amendments to the ballot. The Constitution Revision Commission convenes every 20 years, beginning in 1977. The Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission is also empowered to refer constitutional amendments related to taxation and the state budget to the ballot. The Taxation and Budget Reform Commission convenes every 20 years beginning in 2007. Florida is the only state with commissions empowered to refer constitutional amendments to the ballot.
Laws governing the initiative process in Florida
- In Florida, citizens have the power to initiate constitutional amendments or call a constitutional convention via initiative.
- Florida adopted the initiative and referendum process in 1968 with voter approval of Amendment 1.
Amending the Florida Constitution
- Florida became a state in 1845. The current state constitution was ratified in 1968.
- The Florida Constitution can be amended in four ways:
- Legislatively referred constitutional amendment: The Florida State Legislature can refer constitutional amendments to the ballot, with a 60% vote in each legislative chamber during one legislative session.
- Initiated constitutional amendment: Citizens can initiate constitutional amendments in Florida.
- Convention-referred constitutional amendment: The state constitutional convention can refer constitutional amendments to the ballot.
- Commission-referred constitutional amendment: Both the Florida Constitution Revision Commission and Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission can refer constitutional amendments to the ballot.
Laws governing local ballot measures in Florida
- Title XII, Chapter 166 of the Florida State Statutes mandates the powers of initiative and referendum for the amendment of city charters.[1]
Signature requirements for ballot measures in Florida
- In Florida, the number of signatures required to place constitutional amendments on the ballot is equal to 8% of the total number of votes cast in the last presidential election.
- To place a call for a constitutional convention on the ballot, the number of signatures required is equal to 15% of the total number of votes cast in the last presidential election.
Laws governing recall in Florida
- The recall of local elected government officials in Florida is governed by Fla. Stat. Ann §100.361. This statute applies to "cities and charter counties whether or not they have adopted recall provisions."[2]
Laws governing state constitutional conventions in Florida
- According to Article XI, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution, a constitutional convention can be called through an initiative petition.
Campaign finance requirements for Florida ballot measures
- PACs that support or oppose ballot measures in Florida must register and report campaign finance.
Changes to laws governing ballot measures in Florida
{{Template:BPtabbed |tabs-id=FloridaLawChangesYes |count=8
|tab-1-label=2025 |tab-panel-1-content=
- House Bill 1205: The bill equired petition circulators to register with the secretary of state and complete mandatory training; require circulators to sign a statement affirming they were not paid based on the number of signatures collected; requires signatures to include the voter's Florida driver's license or state identification card number or the last four digits of the voter's social security number; requires the attorney general to ensure compliance of the fiscal impact statement along with the ballot language and constitutionality; changes fiscal impact statement processes; defines petition circulator to exclude individuals who physically possess no more than 25 signed petition forms; requires initiative sponsors to submit a letter every third election cycle to prevent signature expiration; prohibits sponsors from sponsoring more than one amendment; establishes specific requirements for initiative petition formatting including specific font sizes and displaying a notice that it is a misdemeanor to knowingly sign a petition more than once; require sponsors to affirm they are not convicted felons, are residents of the state, and citizens of the U.S.; enacts criminal penalties for violations; directs county supervisors of elections to forward instances when 25% or more of signatures are invalidated to the Office of Election Crimes and Security.[3]
| HB 1205 Vote | Senate | House | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | NV | Yes | No | NV | |
| Total | 28 | 9 | 1 | 81 | 30 | 8 |
| Democratic (D) | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 3 |
| Republican (R) | 27 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 0 | 5 |
|tab-2-label=2024 |tab-panel-2-content=
- House Bill 5101: The bill required the Department of Education to create and maintain and continually update a database of school bond referendums, school district debt, bonds in effect, and future referendums to be considered including bond referendum ballot language and project lists.[4]
| HB 5101 Vote | Senate | House | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | NV | Yes | No | NV | |
| Total | 39 | 0 | 1 | 108 | 1 | 11 |
| Democratic (D) | 11 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 1 | 5 |
| Republican (R) | 28 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 0 | 6 |
- Senate Bill 1628: The bill requires bond issues greater than $500 million to be voted on at a general election.[5]
| SB 1628 Vote | Senate | House | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | NV | Yes | No | NV | |
| Total | 30 | 9 | 9 | 84 | 30 | 6 |
| Democratic (D) | 9 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 29 | 3 |
| Republican (R) | 21 | 0 | 27 | 80 | 1 | 3 |
|tab-3-label=2023 |tab-panel-3-content=
The Florida State Legislature did not pass legislation concerning ballot measures in 2023.
|tab-4-label=2022 |tab-panel-4-content=
- Senate Bill 524: The legislation made changes to the state's election policies, including but not limited to ballot initiatives. SB 524 required state officials to discontinue reviewing an initiated amendment should signatures expire during the review process; these officials have 30 days to review an initiated amendment. The bill also increased criminal penalties for forging someone's signature on an initiative petition and for paying a circulator based on the number of petition forms gathered.[6]
- House Bill 777: The legislation required that local referendums dealing with certain local tax levies, such as tourist development taxes, children’s services special district taxes, local option fuel taxes, school district millage taxes, and others, be voted on at general elections. Therefore, the bill required that these referendum votes cannot be held as special elections.[7]
- House Bill 921: The legislation was designed to make multiple changes to campaign finance rules regarding ballot measures, including a provision to prohibit an out-of-state donor from giving more than $3,000 to support or oppose an initiative during signature gathering and to prohibit a political action committee that does not have an office in Florida from accepting a contribution of more than $3,000 and a provision banning political contributions surrounding Florida elections from foreign nationals.[8]
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- Senate Bill 1194: The legislation was a transportation-related omnibus bill, which included a provision prohibiting the use of local ballot measures to restrict maritime commerce, such as cruise ships, at ports.[9]
- Senate Bill 1890: The legislation created a $3,000 limit on campaign contributions to ballot initiative committees until the state certifies the measure for the ballot and assigns a number designation.[10]
- Senate Joint Resolution 204 (Amendment 2): The constitutional amendment would have abolished the Florida Constitution Revision Commission, a 37-member commission that meets every 20 years to propose changes to the state's constitution and refer them to the statewide ballot for voter approval or rejection. Voters rejected the constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.[11]
|tab-6-label=2020 |tab-panel-6-content=
- Senate Bill 1794: The legislation made several changes to the laws governing the initiative process in Florida, including:[12]
- making signatures invalid after February 1 of even-numbered years each cycle instead of allowing signatures to remain valid for a period of two years;
- increasing the signature threshold to trigger a court review of an initiative petition from 10% to 25% of the total required signatures and in half of the state's congressional districts;
- requiring the Florida Supreme Court to review whether a proposed amendment is "facially invalid under the United States Constitution" in addition to existing requirements for reviewing the ballot title and reviewing the initiative for compliance with the state's single-subject rule;
- requiring petitioners to reimburse counties for the actual cost of verifying signatures, rather than the then-existing fee of 10 cents per signature or the actual cost, whichever is less.
- providing 60 days, rather than 30 days, for elections supervisors to validate signatures, except within 60 days from the deadline;
- allowing citizens to challenge the registration of a paid circulator; and
- requiring specific statements concerning the impact of the measure on the state budget (negative, positive, or indeterminate) to be included on the ballot, among other changes.
|tab-7-label=2019 |tab-panel-7-content=
- House Bill 5: The legislation made several changes to the laws governing the initiative process in Florida, including:[13]
- require paid petition circulators to register with the state and provide an affidavit;
- prohibit paying petition circulators based on the number of signatures gathered and making a violation a misdemeanor offense;
- require petition forms to be submitted to elections officials within 30 days of being signed or receive a fine of $50 per petition sheet;
- require ballot language for a statewide initiative to contain an estimate of the impact on the state and local economy and effect on the state budget;
- require a two-thirds (66.67%) vote at a general election to approve local discretionary sales taxes.
|tab-8-label=2018 |tab-panel-8-content=
The Florida State Legislature did not pass legislation concerning ballot measures in 2018.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ , "The 2025 Florida Statutes" accessed October 3, 2025
- ↑ Fla. Stat. Ann §100.361, "Fla. Stat. Ann §100.361" accessed October 3, 2025
- ↑ Florida Legislature, "HB 1205," accessed October 3, 2025
- ↑ Florida State Legislature, "HB 5101," accessed October 3, 2025
- ↑ Florida State Legislature, "SB 1628," accessed October 3, 2025
- ↑ Florida State Senate, "Senate Bill 524," accessed October 3, 2025
- ↑ Florida State Senate, "House Bill 777," accessed October 3, 2025
- ↑ Florida State Senate, "House Bill 921," accessed October 3, 2025
- ↑ Florida State Senate, "Senate Bill 1194," accessed October 3, 2025
- ↑ Florida State Senate, "Senate Bill 1890," accessed October 3, 2025
- ↑ Florida State Senate, "Senate Joint Resolution 204," accessed October 3, 2025
- ↑ Florida State Senate, "Senate Bill 1794," accessed October 3, 2025
- ↑ Florida State Senate, "House Bill 5," accessed October 3, 2025
