In Tallahassee, Florida, voters have historically utilized the citizens’ initiative process to circumvent the dominance of the Republican-controlled Legislature and push forward progressive policies like increasing the minimum wage, legalizing medical marijuana, and restoring voting rights for individuals with felony records. However, state lawmakers recently passed a measure that imposes new obstacles for citizen-driven initiatives, a move critics argue will drastically increase costs and practically eliminate the ability for grassroots activists to place initiatives on the ballot.
The legislation indicates a broader national trend, with many states introducing bills to limit public participation in the initiative process, as noted by the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. Advocates for voting rights express concern that such actions undermine the principles of direct democracy. The Florida measure stipulates that individuals could potentially face felony charges if they collect more than 25 signatures for ballot petitions—excluding their own or immediate family members—without registering as petition circulators with the state.
Prior to the bill passing through the Legislature, Florida voters had shown support for initiatives protecting abortion rights and legalizing recreational marijuana, although these measures did not reach the required 60% threshold for approval. The bill now awaits approval from Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who has previously advocated for reforms to the constitutional amendment process and actively campaigned against ballot measures during the last election.
Opponents of the legislation, like Democratic state Senator Carlos Smith, view it as a deliberate attempt to obstruct the citizen initiative process, describing it as a severe blow to direct democracy. In contrast, the bill’s Republican sponsors assert that the measure is intended to safeguard rather than curtail the initiative process, which the Florida Senate president has characterized as sacrosanct. They argue that the legislation is aimed at addressing alleged misconduct by external petition collectors, such as signature forgery and voter deception.
Lawmakers also emphasized the necessity of preventing misuse of public resources for political purposes, particularly in response to actions taken by the DeSantis administration against proposed measures. The bill includes provisions that prohibit the use of public funds for political advertisements related to constitutional amendments. Additionally, the legislation expands the restrictions on individuals collecting petitions, encompassing individuals with felony convictions without restored voting rights, noncitizens, and out-of-state residents.
The bill’s proponents contend that these reforms are crucial for ensuring the integrity of the initiative process and combating instances of proven election fraud. They underscore the importance of upholding transparency and accountability in the initiative system, asserting that the legislation is a step toward safeguarding the democratic process in Florida.
In a state with a significant population of part-time workers and foreign-born residents like Florida, individuals would need to provide their driver’s license number, voter ID card number, or the last four digits of their Social Security number when completing a petition, which will be made public. There are tighter deadlines for returning petitions to local election officials, along with increased fines for returning them to the wrong county, often due to errors made by voters. Jeff Brandes, a former Republican state Senator and current head of the nonprofit Florida Policy Project, criticized the bill, stating that changing the constitution should be challenging but not impossible, unlike what he perceives the Florida Legislature to be doing. ___ This report includes contributions from Associated Press writer Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida. Payne, a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative, is part of the nonprofit national service program Report for America, which deploys journalists to cover overlooked issues in local newsrooms.
