Florida has enacted stricter rules for placing citizen-led ballot proposals before voters, immediately facing a lawsuit from a group seeking to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot next year. The new requirements make the process harder for groups gathering signatures.
The lawsuit, filed May 4 by Florida Decides Healthcare, challenges the recently passed state law, House Bill 1205. Plaintiffs argue the restrictions violate the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and seek a court order to block the law's enforcement.
The measure imposes several new requirements on individuals circulating petitions for ballot initiatives. It mandates petition circulators register with the state under stricter rules and requires them to be Florida residents and U.S. citizens.
The law also limits the number of signatures an unregistered canvasser can collect to 25. Additionally, it requires canvassers to collect more identifying information from signers and shortens the time frame for submitting collected petitions to just 10 days.The changes follow a wave of successful citizen-led ballot measures in other states, notably those expanding abortion rights. Florida's action mirrors similar moves in states like Arkansas to add restrictions to the citizen amendment process.
In Florida, voters have used the ballot initiative process in the past to pass reforms, including authorizing medical marijuana use, restoring voting rights to formerly incarcerated people, and raising the minimum wage.Gov. Ron DeSantis's office, citing the state’s Office of Election Crimes and Security, previously charged that organizers and petitioners involved with a past abortion ballot question had committed widespread petition fraud. The state did not challenge any signatures earlier in that process.
Florida Decides Healthcare, the group suing over the new law, is working to get a Medicaid expansion proposal on next year’s ballot. They face a February deadline to gather nearly 900,000 signatures and stated the new requirements make signature-gatherers nervous.Holly Bullard, co-chairwoman of the organization that filed the lawsuit, said the citizen-led process is not perfect, but it is powerful. "This isn’t about transparency or accountability — this is about control," she said. "And that’s exactly why they’re trying to undermine it."
