Fight to protect Florida's initiative process

The legislative session is under way and the initiative process is under fire. Several proposed measures—S.J.R. 2392, S.J.R. 2394, and S.J.R. 2396—would respectively raise the number of votes required to pass initiatives, cut the period of time allowed for signature gathering, and restrict the subject matter of initiatives.

We must protect the initiative process, the most direct form of democracy in Florida. Please Take Action and urge your legislators to oppose these anti-democratic bills.

In seven of the eight states with effective medical marijuana statutes, the laws were passed by the citizens themselves. In Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, voters enacted laws protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest and prosecution. The passage of any of these bills would significantly reduce the chances of such an initiative in Florida.

Currently: Floridians can propose and vote on an initiative to amend the state constitution—regardless of the measure's subject matter.

S.J.R. 2396: would limit the subject matter of proposed initiatives, allowing them only to: "seek to alter, amend, or repeal an existing article of or amendment to this constitution; address a fundamental right of a citizen of this state; or seek to create, implement, or otherwise change a basic structure of state government."

Currently: a measure becomes law if it gets 51 percent of the vote.

S.J.R. 2392: would require a measure to get 60 percent of the vote in order to become law.

Currently: an initiative's proponents must submit the signatures to their local supervisor of elections, who must then verify the signatures and submit a certificate to the secretary of state only 91 days before the general election.

S.J.R. 2394: would roll back this deadline to February 1, which effectively slashes the signature-gathering period.

Please Take Action now to save Florida's initiative process. After you choose your favorite pre-written letter and type in your address, our site will automatically e-mail your letter to your legislators … all with the click of a few buttons. The whole process takes less than two minutes, but it makes a world of difference. Also, you can print the letters and send them to your legislators through regular mail.

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