FLORIDA

Florida does not have statutory initiatives or veto referendums but does have constitutional initiatives and legislatively referred amendments. The timing of an election on a proposed constitutional amendment depends on whether it originates via initiative petition or the legislature; for legislatively referred amendments, a special election may be called with a legislative supermajority. Ballot contents also vary depending on the proposed amendment’s origins. For initiatives, detailed financial information compiled by a 4-member Financial Impact Estimating Conference must be provided on the ballot and elsewhere. For both constitutional initiatives and legislatively referred amendments, the ballot title and summary are subject to similar accuracy standards, but different entities are responsible for drafting the contents. Florida law also requires pre-election judicial review of initiatives, but not of legislatively referred amendments.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

What forms of direct democracy are available, and when?

Statewide Ballot Measures in Florida

Florida does not have statutory initiatives or veto referendums, but voters may propose constitutional amendments via initiative petition, and a popular vote is required to pass amendments proposed by the state legislature.

X Initiatives – Statutory

√ Initiatives – Constitutional

Voters have the initiative power to amend the state constitution. Fla. Const. art. XI, § 3.

X Veto Referendums

√ Legislatively Referred Amendments

An amendment to the state constitution proposed by the legislature must be approved by Florida voters. Fla. Const. art. XI, §§ 1, 5.

Election Timing

The timing of an election on a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution depends on whether it originates via initiative petition or the legislature; for legislatively referred amendments, a special election may be called with a supermajority.

• Constitutional initiatives shall be placed on the ballot for the general election, provided the petition has been timely filed and verified. See Const. art. XI, § 5(b); Fla. Stat. § 100.371(1).
• Legislatively referred amendments shall be submitted at the next general election held more than 90 days after the joint resolution is filed, except that with a 3/4 supermajority vote of each house, the legislature may call an earlier special election held more than 90 days after such filing. Const. art. XI, § 5(a).

BALLOT PREPARATION

What is included on the ballot, and who prepares it?

The ballot for any proposed constitutional amendment must contain the following.

• Ballot title (15 words or less). Fla. Stat. § 101.161(1)(d), (3)(a).
  • The title must be the caption by which the measure is commonly referred to or spoken of. Id. sub. (1)(d).
• Ballot summary (75 words or less). Fla. Stat. § 101.161(1), (3)(a).
  • The summary must explain the proposed amendment’s chief purpose in clear and unambiguous language.
  • For constitutional initiatives, the ballot title and summary are drafted by the sponsor and approved by the Secretary of State. § 101.161(2).
  • For legislatively referred amendments, the ballot title and summary must be included in the underlying legislative resolution. § 101.161(3)(a). If any Florida appellate court finds such language to be defective, it may order the Attorney General to prepare new language to correct the deficiency. See id. sub. (3)(c)(2). “The revised ballot summary may exceed 75 words in length.” Id.

• (For constitutional initiatives only) Financial impact statement prepared by the Financial Impact Estimating Conference (150 words or less), plus summary language describing overall projected fiscal impact. Fla. Stat. §§ 100.371(13)(a), (c)(2), (d), 101.161(1)(a)-(d).
  • The Financial Impact Estimating Conference must describe the estimated increase or decrease in any revenues or costs to state or local governments and the overall impact to the state budget resulting from the proposal. Stat. § 100.371(13)(a).
  • The Conference consists of a designee of the Governor, a coordinator from the Office of Economic and Demographic Research, a House professional staff member, and a Senate professional staff member. sub. (13)(c)(1). The Conference must reach a majority consensus. Id. sub. (13)(c)(2).
  • The Conference must allow any representatives of the sponsors, interested parties, or opponents of the initiative to submit information, and may request information from any other entity, including the Office of Economic and Demographic Research. sub. (13)(b).

INFORMATION TO VOTERS

What information is provided to voters before the election, and how?

Publication

Under the Florida Constitution, any proposed constitutional amendment, as well as the pertinent election date, must be published in one newspaper of general circulation in each county in which a newspaper is published: once in the tenth week, and again in the sixth week before the election. Fla. Const. art. XI, § 5(d).

• For constitutional initiatives, there are various public notice requirements pertaining to the financial information prepared by the Financial Impact Estimating Conference. See Stat. § 100.371(13)(c), (e)(5). Local elections officials must publish the Conference’s financial information summary in one county newspaper before the election, and the publication must also include the internet addresses for the Secretary of State and Office of Economic and Demographic Research’s websites where additional information can be found. See id. sub. (13)(e)(5); Fla. Stat. § 101.20.
• In the event a special election is held for a legislatively referred amendment, a notice of the election must be published on a website or in a newspaper of general circulation at least twice: once in the fifth week and once in the third week prior to election being held. Fla. Stat. § 100.342.

Voter Information Pamphlet

• Florida law does not require a state voter information pamphlet for constitutional amendments.
  • Although Florida law does not require a formal voter information pamphlet, for initiatives, the Financial Impact Estimating Conference compiles a more complete analysis beyond what is provided on the ballot, which is known as the Initiative Financial Information Statement. Stat. § 100.371(13)(e)(3). The statement must include the following.
    • Summary of the fiscal impacts (500 words or less).
    • Assumptions the Conference made to develop the financial impacts.
    • A description, in greater detail than what is included on the ballot, of any estimated increase or decrease in revenues or cost resulting from the initiative.
      • The statement may include both estimated dollar amounts as well as contextual descriptions of these amounts.

Id. All meetings of the Financial Impact Estimating Conference must be open to the public. Fla. Stat. § 100.371(13)(c). The Conference’s full statement must be posted online by the Secretary of State and the Office of Economic and Demographic Research. (13)(e)(5). In addition, the summary portion must be posted on the website of each local elections’ supervisor with a website. Id. The summary must also be printed by the Department of State and furnished to each local supervisor for placement at each polling place. Id. sub. (13)(e)(4).

JUDICIAL REVIEW

When and how can the court step in?

• For initiatives only, after the required number of petition signatures have been verified, the Secretary of State submits the initiative to the Attorney General. Fla. Stat. § 15.21. Within 30 days, the Attorney General must petition the Florida Supreme Court for an advisory opinion as to whether the proposed constitutional initiative complies with Florida Constitution Article XI, § 3, whether it is facially invalid under the United States Constitution, and whether the ballot title and substance comply with Fla. Stat. § 101.161. See Fla. Stat. § 16.061(1); Fla. Const. art. IV, § 10, art. V, § 3(b)(10). The petition may enumerate any specific factual issues that the Attorney General believes require determination. Fla. Stat. § 16.061(1). The Florida Supreme Court has on occasion stricken a proposed constitutional initiative before the election on the grounds that its ballot summary is misleading and therefore not in compliance with statutory requirements. Advisory Op. to the Att’y Gen. re: Adult Use of Marijuana, 315 So.3d 1176, 1177, 1185 (Fla. 2021).

Sample case: Advisory Op. to the Att’y Gen. Re: Adult Use of Marijuana, 315 So.3d 1176, 1177, 1185 (Fla. 2021) (opining in mandatory advisory opinion that ballot summary indicating the proposed amendment would “permit” use of recreational marijuana was misleading in that it suggested that activities would be legal under federal law and striking the proposed amendment).

Florida statutes also contemplate Florida Supreme Court review of materials prepared by the Financial Impact Estimating Conference. See, e.g., Fla. Stat. §§ 100.371(13)(c)(3), 16.061(3). However, the Florida Supreme Court has held it lacks jurisdiction under the state constitution to review the validity of financial impact statements prepared by the Conference. See Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General re: Raising Florida’s Minimum Wage, 285 So.3d 1273, 1277–78 (Fla. 2019).

• For legislatively referred amendments, although the Florida Constitution does not explicitly provide for judicial review of ballot language, Florida statutes provide for actions for expeditious judicial determinations that a ballot statement embodied in a legislative resolution is defective. See Stat. § 101.161(3)(c)(1)–(2). Such actions may be commenced within 30 days after the joint resolution is filed with the Secretary of State. Id. The Florida Supreme Court has held that the ballot language for legislatively referred amendments must fairly inform voters of the chief purpose of the amendment and must not be misleading. Fla. Educ. Ass’n v. Fla. Dep’t of State, 48 So.3d 694, 699–701 (Fla. 2010).

Sample case: Armstrong v. Harris, 773 So.2d. 7, 12, 21 (Fla. 2000) (holding that ballot language for legislatively referred amendment is subject to accuracy requirements, implicit in the constitutional provision requiring that amendments be submitted to electors; and holding that, here, ballot summary did not state the proposed amendment’s main effect or chief purpose, was misleading for “flying under false colors,” and “hiding the ball”).

If the court finds the legislature’s ballot statement to be defective “and further appeals are declined, abandoned, or exhausted, unless otherwise provided in the joint resolution, the Attorney General shall, within 10 days, prepare and submit to the Department of State a revised ballot title or ballot summary that corrects the deficiencies identified by the court[.]” Fla. Stat. § 101.161(3)(c)(2). The court retains jurisdiction over any ballot language prepared by the Attorney General, and a new challenge may be filed within 10 days after a revised ballot title or summary is submitted to the Department of State. See id.