By St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections Vicky Oakes
Did you know that citizens may propose amendments to the Florida Constitution through an initiative petition process? The initiative petition process, in addition to other requirements, requires a specific number of petitions to be signed by registered Florida voters before the proposed amendment can appear on the ballot. Per the Florida Constitution, the number of signatures needed is based on 8 percent of the voters who cast votes in the last Presidential election. In addition, the signatures must also come from voters in at least one half of the congressional districts of the state. The statewide total valid signatures needed for the initiative to make it to your ballot in 2024 is 891,523. A proposed amendment requires at least 60 percent approval from Florida voters to pass.
Statewide, groups often submit over a million signatures on the initiative petitions. In order to be valid, the signature submitted must be that of a registered voter in the county to which the signature has been submitted, and the signature on the petition must match the signature on the voter’s record.
Once proponents obtain 25 percent of the total number of required signatures, the Secretary of State sends the initiative language to the Attorney General, who then forwards the language to the Florida Supreme Court. The Supreme Court will determine if the initiative is legal. During the review by the Court, proponents may continue gathering the remaining signatures needed to place it on the ballot. If the Court declares the initiative invalid because it is unconstitutional, violates Florida’s strict single-subject requirement, or any other reasons, the initiative is dead.
Throughout the year, the St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections Office verifies thousands of initiative petitions signed by St. Johns County voters. Pursuant to Florida Statute 100.371(11)(b), St. Johns County’s actual cost of signature verification of an initiative petition is $0.55. Since January 2023, our office has received and verified almost 19,000 signed petition forms. The most popular petitions currently circulating are “Adult Personal Use of Marijuana” and “Right to Clean and Healthy Waters.” Once a month, an Initiative Petition Summary is uploaded to our website at www.votesjc.gov for public viewing.
After the petitions are verified by the Supervisor of Elections Office, they are forwarded to the Secretary of State. Once the Secretary of State has determined that the required number and distribution of valid signatures has been obtained, the Secretary will issue a certificate of ballot position for that proposed amendment.
Initiative petitions are circulated by either paid petition circulators or volunteer petition circulators. To become a paid petition circulator, one must visit the Florida Division of Elections website and complete an online application. Petition circulators are working in St. Johns County, so don’t be surprised if you are approached at a public library, government building, grocery store, or gas station by a circulator asking for your signature on a constitutional amendment petition. Initiative petitions must be filed no later than February 1, 2024 in order to obtain ballot position for the 2024 General Election.
