TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – On Friday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a brand-new bill into law hours after it was approved by the Florida Legislature.
The legislation (HB 1205) targets the process of citizen-initiated amendments to the state constitution by introducing stricter rules and more severe consequences for those who violate them.
Petition Sponsors: Those sponsoring petitions must certify that individuals involved with petitions are not felons, unless their rights have been reinstated, and that all are U.S. citizens. Should any participant be discovered as either a felon or non-citizen, the sponsors face a $50,000 penalty for each occurrence.
Amendment Language: Sponsors must submit the ballot title, ballot summary, and full text of the proposed amendment to the Secretary of State.
Petition Forms: Effective from July 1, all petition forms must feature the complete text of the proposed amendment and detail the sponsor’s name and address. Furthermore, these forms will require voters to fill in their full name, residence, date of birth, and a form of identification, such as a driver’s license, state ID, or Social Security number.
Petition Collectors: Starting July 1, people may not deliver or possess more than 25 signed petitions along with their own and immediate family members unless they are a registered petition circulator. In addition, petition circulators must be residents of the state.
Training Requirements: People may not register to collect signatures until they go through state-mandated training. This training includes an overview of the petition-gathering process, registration requirements, explanation of state regulations, and criminal penalties for violators.
Deadline Changes: Sponsors must delivery petition forms to a supervisor of elections within 10 days — shortened from 30. Forms that are submitted late or not delivered at all incur fines for the sponsor.
Sponsor Liabilities: If a person collecting petition forms for a sponsor signs someone else’s name on a form or fills in missing information for a voter, the sponsor can be fined up to $5,000 per petition.
Criminal Penalties: A person collecting petition forms for a sponsor can be convicted of a third-degree felony if he/she copies or retains a voter’s personal information.
HB 1205 took effect upon being signed, though it only managed to pass the Legislature roughly six hours beforehand, making it the quickest bill to get past DeSantis so far this year.
