Supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment about the citizenship of voters have cleared an important initial threshold, setting the stage for a Florida Supreme Court review.
The Jacksonville-based political committee Florida Citizen Voters had submitted 85,695 valid petition signatures to the state Division of Elections as of Monday morning, topping a 76,632-signature threshold to trigger a Supreme Court review of the proposal’s wording.
The proposal would change part of the state Constitution that now says, “Every citizen of the United States who is at least eighteen years of age and who is a permanent resident of the state, if registered as provided by law, shall be an elector of the county where registered.”
The proposal would change that wording to: “Only a citizen of the United States who is at least eighteen years of age and who is a permanent resident of the state, if registered as provided by law, shall be an elector of the county where registered.”
If the Supreme Court signs off on the wording of the proposal, Florida Citizen Voters ultimately would need to submit a total of 766,200 valid signatures to get the measure on the November 2020 ballot.
Three other ballot measures --- dealing with revamping the state’s electric utility industry, raising the minimum wage and expanding Medicaid coverage --- also have cleared the initial signature threshold.
Supporters of a ban on assault-style weapons announced last week they had collected enough signatures for Supreme Court review, though the Division of Elections website indicated 74,624 valid signatures had been submitted as of Monday morning.
