Ballot initiatives face hurdles

Whether a constitutional amendment that would legalize medical marijuana makes it before voters in Florida next year may come down to the question of whether the ballot language is inaccurate or misleading.

That was the crux of most of the give-and-take before the Florida Supreme Court this week. Medical marijuana supporters said the amendment accurately reflects a measure to allow doctors to prescribe the drug for debilitating diseases and conditions. Opponents said the ballot language clouds the scope of the proposal, which they say could lead to the widespread use of marijuana.

The arguments also highlight a major challenge that citizens’ initiatives face in Florida when writing ballot language. There Legislature has set a strict word limit. The title can be no more than 15 words and the ballot summary beneath the title is limited to 75 words — no matter how complicated the proposal.

Yet, the Legislature, which can put amendments on the ballot itself by a three-fifths vote, has the ability to write ballot language with no word limit.

Some see that as unfair, including at least one member of the Supreme Court.

“One of the problems we have is that there is a very unequal situation with the constitutional amendments where the Legislature has decided that the ballot summary is limitless,” said Justice Barbara Pariente. “They can put the whole amendment on it, whereas citizens have this limit that the Legislature has put on of 75 words.”

Pariente said she hoped that lawmakers might consider revising that limit for citizens’ initiatives in the future, saying the 75-word limit “may be too short.”

Lawmakers have been freed from the 75-word limit themselves since 2002.

And the ability for the Legislature to loquaciously describe its own ballot amendments was demonstrated in the 2012 election, when lawmakers placed 11 amendments totaling 2,371 words on the general election ballot, including one measure that came in at 664 words.

The lengthy ballot language — which some voters tried to read, if not understand — was blamed by some for the multi-hour voting delays in some of Florida’s largest counties.

To the Legislature’s credit, lawmakers did curb a little bit of their ability to write lengthy ballot proposals in an elections reform bill passed in the 2013 session.

Lawmakers agreed that if they have a ballot proposal with multiple summaries, the first summary would be limited to 75 words, although subsequent summaries could be limitless. They also agreed if they had a measure with one summary, it had to be limited to 75 words.

However, if the Attorney General’s Office has to rewrite a legislative ballot summary — which has been called into question by the court — there is no limit. The attorney general’s rewrite is another legislative perquisite that citizens’ initiatives do not enjoy.

As a counter to the argument that citizens’ initiatives are hindered by the 75 word limit, the medical marijuana opponents argued it wasn’t so much the words that were left off the ballot that was misleading, it was the choice of words that the proponents used.

Additionally, others can point to the 75-word ballot summary that environmental groups wrote to put a conservation land-buying amendment on the 2014 ballot that sailed through the Supreme Court with no opposition.

Nonetheless, the 75-word limit is one of several major barriers that citizens’ initiatives have to face to win a place on the ballot. They also have to collect nearly 700,000 voter signatures in a two-year time frame.

And if they win a place on the ballot, citizens’ initiatives must secure 60 percent of the vote. But that last barrier is equally shared with the legislative ballot initiatives, as lawmakers well know; they saw eight of their 11 amendments in the 2012 election rejected by the electorate.

WINNER OF THE WEEK: State revenue. Economists revised their financial forecast for Florida government revenue on Friday, reporting a steady — but not large — upward trend in the sales tax and other collections. It means state revenue should be about $1.3 billion higher for the next budget cycle, compared to the revised forecast for this year.

LOSER OF THE WEEK: Charlie Crist. After a burst of positive publicity when he entered the race and reports that he is raising money quickly, the former Republican governor’s Democratic bid to return to office hit a bump with the quick departure of his new campaign manager, Bill Hyers.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I think it was more of a chemistry thing,” Orlando attorney John Morgan said about Charlie Crist’s abrupt breakup with his campaign manager, Bill Hyers, who recently drew praise for his handling of Bill de Blasio’s successful bid for New York City mayor.

Lloyd Dunkelberger

Lloyd Dunkelberger is the Htpolitics.com Capital Bureau Chief.
He can be reached by email or call 850 556-3542.
""More Dunkelberger"
Make sure to "Like" HT Politics on Facebook for all your breaking political news.

Last modified: December 6, 2013
All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be published without permissions. Links are encouraged.