Florida
The first step in the process of qualifying an initiative is to
register with the Division of Elections as a political committee pursuant to
section 106.03 of the Florida Statutes.
Date initiative language can be submitted: Any time
Signatures tied to vote of which office: Number of ballots cast in last
presidential election.
Next presidential election: 2012
Ballots cast in the last presidential election: 8,456,329
Net number of signatures required: Proponents must gather signatures
equal to 8% of the total number of statewide ballots cast in the last
presidential election. (676,506 signatures.)
You have Initiative rights for citizens to place constitutional amendments on the ballot for a decision by the voters, but citizens lack a process where they can pass statutes or suspend a statute passed by the Legislature.
Coalition for an Open & Accessible Initiative Process:
A group opposed to Nebraska’s affirmative action law says it won’t appeal a judge’s rejection of their lawsuit challenging the validity of petition signatures
David Kramer, spokesman for Nebraskans United, says the judge’s ruling still leaves questions about whether a petition circulator has to read the entire object statement to each signer.
The Florida Supreme Court cleared the way Thursday for a 2010 ballot amendment designed to end political gamesmanship in drawing district boundaries, in what could be the first step to reshuffling the state’s Republican-dominated political landscape.
The court ruled that two proposed ballot questions, dealing with state legislative and congressional district boundaries, satisfy the requirement that constitutional amendments address only a single subject, a legal standard that tripped up past bids to change Florida’s redistricting system
To Marvin Miller’s way of thinking, the job has not been done on Florida’s property-tax system.
In fact, part of what has been done simply made the situation worse, he says.
So, almost two years after the state Legislature passed a law intended to roll back property taxes and a year after voters passed a state constitutional amendment to give themselves additional tax exemptions, Miller thinks more changes need to be made.
County commissioners decided Wednesday to ask residents whether they want to squelch themselves.
By a 4-1 vote, commissioners agreed to put four proposed charter amendments on the Nov. 4 ballot. The changes, if approved by voters, would make it harder for citizens to change the county charter or enact ordinances commissioners refused to consider. They would also prevent any question regarding citizen initiatives or tax referendums from being considered at any time other than during general elections every two years.
A group of Coral Gables activists seeking term limits for the mayor and commissioners have asked the city clerk to approve language for a petition to get a referendum on the ballot as early as August and no later than November.
And they gave City Clerk Walter Foeman until the end of the month to get it approved — or they will take the matter to court.
Anyone who thought the long, nasty fight over amending Florida’s constitution had ended should think again.
Business groups and their traditional adversaries on the issue — organizations such as the League of Women Voters of Florida and the Florida Public Interest Research Group — are tangling again this spring.
At stake: a proposal in the state Legislature that would require paid petition circulators to register with the state and bar non-Florida residents, non-U.S. citizens and convicted felons who are ineligible to vote from being paid circulators.
No poll has yet shown enough Floridians are ready to embrace a property tax-cutting initiative on the Jan. 29 presidential primary ballot to make it a reality.
To sweeten the property tax relief measure on the Jan. 29 ballot, legislators have embraced a concept known as portability, allowing residents to take their capped tax savings with them when they move. It could be the measure’s undoing.
Succumbing to the clock and a tax-wearied electorate, the Florida Legislature appeared poised Monday to send voters a scaled-back property tax proposal that offers a couple hundred dollars to homeowners.