TALLAHASSEE — Citizen petition drives are facing new regulations critics say are a “kill shot” to direct democracy that would make it nearly impossible for hot-button issues from abortion to marijuana legalization to make it on the ballot.
The proposed overhaul approved Friday by the Florida Legislature erects new hurdles for groups seeking to put ballot initiatives before Florida voters.
Supporters argue reforms are needed to ensure integrity in the process.
“The purpose of this bill is to have citizen initiative amendments that are valid, that are not corrupt and properly show the will of the people of Florida,” said Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, the measure’s sponsor.
But Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando said he thinks the additional hurdles are meant to “silence the voices of Floridians for generations,” shutting down the ability to take issues directly to the people.
“What we have here with this bill is the final kill shot against direct democracy,” he said.
The petition bill now heads to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who wanted lawmakers to go even further in overhauling the petition process. DeSantis called for an end to the third-party collection of petitions.
In the past, the petition process has been used to legalize medical marijuana, raise the state minimum wage and restore voting rights to most Floridians with felony convictions, among others. Ballot initiatives seeking to overturn the state’s six-week abortion ban and legalize recreational pot narrowly failed last year. Supporters of legalizing marijuana are already gathering signatures to try again with a new ballot proposal.
Citizen initiatives that make it to a ballot require a 60% supermajority to pass.
The bill would impose a variety of new regulations, tighter deadlines, penalties and potential fines on the petition process. Anyone who doesn’t register with the state as a signature-gatherer and possesses more than 25 signed petitions beyond their own and immediate family members could face a third-degree felony charge punishable by up to five years in prison. There is no restriction on distributing blank petition forms.
The bill bars people from out of state, noncitizens and felons who have not had their voting rights restored from collecting petitions. Registered petition circulators would have to undergo training with the state.
Citizen-led ballot initiatives already face significant hurdles. Nearly 900,000 signatures must be gathered from across the state. Paid petition gatherers must register with the state.
County supervisors vet petitions and check if they are from valid, registered voters.
The legislation also seeks to bar state funds from being used for political communications related to ballot initiatives, a rebuke to DeSantis.
DeSantis’ administration spent millions of public dollars on ads targeting last year’s marijuana and abortion initiatives. State officials defended them as educational messages.
The governor is also facing scrutiny over Hope Florida, an initiative spearheaded by first lady Casey DeSantis that seeks to get people off welfare. The initiative’s charitable arm received a $10 million donation as part of a $67 million settlement Florida made with a Medicaid managed care contractor. The foundation then gave that money to two nonprofit organizations that within days of receiving the funds donated $8.5 million to a political committee opposing the marijuana amendment.