With ballot initiatives decided and Election Day quickly approaching, Floridians will vote on six proposed constitutional amendments. Each proposal would require the support of at least 60% of voters.
What are the six proposals on this year’s election ballot?
Amendment 1: School Board Elections
Voters will decide whether to hold partisan school board elections or not. If passed, the amendment would do away with the requirement that candidates run without party labels.
Florida historically has held partisan school board elections, but voters passed an amendment in 1998 to make races non-partisan. However, lawmakers placed a measure on the 2024 ballot that would return to partisan races beginning in 2026.
Amendment 2: Right to Fish and Hunt
Florida voters will decide in November whether or not to place a right to fish and hunt in the state’s constitution.
Lawmakers nearly voted unanimously in 2023 to place the measure on the ballot.
The proposal says hunting and fishing “shall be preserved forever as a public right and preferred means of reasonably managing and controlling fish and wildlife.”
Amendment 3: Legalize Marijuana
It’s been eight years since Florida voters approved an amendment that allowed the sale of medicinal marijuana.
Now, voters will have the opportunity to decide whether or not the state will allow the recreational use of cannabis.
Former President and current Republican candidate Donald Trump recently said he would vote yes on the Florida Ballot measure to legalize marijuana.
If passed, the amendment would allow people ages 21 and older to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and accessories for non-medical personal use.
Amendment 4: Right to an Abortion
One of Florida’s biggest political issues lies in the hands of the voters, as they will decide whether or not to place abortion rights in the state constitution.
The vote will come after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and lawmakers approved preventing abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
“No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient's health, as determined by the patient's healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature's constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion,” the amendment summary reads.
In November, Florida voters will either leave the state’s six-week abortion ban in place or expand abortion access.
Amendment 5: Property Taxes
Florida homeowners could receive slightly larger property-tax breaks if voters pass an amendment that would lead o adjusting part of the homestead property-tax exemption for inflation.
Homeowners receive tax exemptions on the assessed values of their property, up to $25,000, and on the values between $50,000 and $75,000.
The proposal would require adjusting for inflation.
Amendment 6: Repeal Public financing for Statewide Campaigns
Florida lawmakers approved a measure to be on the ballot in an attempt to repeal a program that offers state matching funds to gubernatorial and state cabinet candidates.
Voters approved the matching-funds program in 1998, and attempted to repeal that program in 2010 without success.
Originally, supports said it could help reduce the influence of big-money contributors in statewide elections.
On the other hand, those against it have ridiculed the program as welfare for politicians.
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