Current through Reg. 50, No. 187; September 24, 2024
(1) Forms. All forms referenced herein are
incorporated by reference and are available online on the Division of
Elections' website at https://www.dos.myflorida.com/elections
under the header for forms, through the rule as adopted under
www.flrules.org, or from the
Florida Department of State, Division of Elections, Room 316, R.A. Gray
Building, 500 S. Bronough Street, Tallahassee, 32399-0250,
(850)245-6200.
(2) Initiative
Petition Approval Process.
(a) Submission.
Before a petition to place a proposed amendment to the Florida State
Constitution on the ballot by initiative can be circulated for signatures, the
sponsoring political committee must receive approval of the initiative petition
from the Secretary of State. The sponsoring committee shall email a written
request that includes the proposed language to
DivElections@DOS.MyFlorida.com.
(b)
Requirements.
1. The Secretary of State shall
review the initiative petition form solely for sufficiency of the format and
shall render a decision within seven (7) days following receipt.
2. The proposed language submitted by the
sponsoring political committee shall consist of the following:
a. The ballot title, which shall not exceed
15 words.
b. The ballot summary,
which shall not exceed 75 words.
c.
The article and section being created or amended in the Florida State
Constitution. For each existing article and/or section being amended, the
language shall be in the format "Amends Article [insert number], Section
[insert number]." The article and section number provided must correspond to an
existing section of the Constitution and must correspond with the full text of
the proposed amendment. For each article and/or section being created, the
language shall be in the format, "Creates Article [insert], New
Section".
d. The full text of the
amendment being proposed. If the proposed constitutional amendment amends an
existing section or sections, the full text shall include the entire existing
text of the section or sections being amended. Text that is being inserted into
the Constitution shall be notated with an underline, and text that is being
deleted shall be notated with a strike through.
3. Word Count. The following provisions apply
to determine the word count for a ballot title and summary:
a. Hyphenated compound words count as two or
more words.
b. A plus or minus sign
shall count as one word.
c.
Punctuation such as commas, periods, hyphens, question marks, parentheses,
quotation marks or exclamation points, does not affect the word
count.
d. Each word joined by a
forward or back slash to another word counts separately as a word.
e. Each part of a date counts as one word.
Example: January 1, 2025 shall count as three words.
f. Each word in a name is individually
counted. Example: George Washington shall count as two words.
g. Each whole number shall count as a
word.
h. Spaces do not affect the
word count.
(c)
Approved Petition Forms.
1. Upon approval of
the format of an initiative petition, the Secretary of State shall assign a
serial number to the petition. The serial number shall begin with the last two
digits of the calendar year in which the petition form is approved followed by
a number in numerical sequence. For example, the first petition form approved
in 2021 is assigned the serial number 21-01. The serial number assigned and
approval date will be printed in the designated location on the forms as
described below.
2. Upon assignment
of a serial number, the Division shall include, in the designated spaces:
a. On Constitutional Amendment Initiative
Petition Forms: the ballot title, ballot summary, serial number and date
approved, and name and address of the sponsoring committee on Form DS-DE 155A
(
http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-13556,
effective 10/2021) entitled "Constitutional Amendment Initiative Petition Form
- Volunteer." An electronic copy in PDF format, suitable for use by volunteers
or directly by voters, shall be provided to the sponsoring political committee
and made available on the Division's website. Paid petition circulators, as
defined below, will obtain their forms, Form DS-DE 155B (
http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-13557,
effective 10/2021) entitled "Constitutional Amendment Initiative Petition Form
- Circulator" directly online in PDF format once they are registered with the
Division pursuant to subsection (6).
b. On Constitutional Amendment Full Text
Forms: the ballot title, ballot summary, article and section being created or
amended, full text of the proposed amendment, serial number and date approved,
and name and address of the sponsoring committee on a supplemental Form DS-DE
156 (
http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-13558,
effective 10/2021) entitled "Constitutional Amendment Full Text." An electronic
copy shall be provided to the sponsoring political committee and made available
on the Division's website. If the full text of the proposed amendment fits on a
single page, it shall be clearly indicated with page numbers in the following
format: Page 1 of 1" as indicated on the DS-DE 156 form. If the full text of
the proposed amendment does not fit on a single page, the language can extend
onto the reverse side of the paper or onto multiple sheets of paper. In such a
case, the box entitled "Initiative Information" shall appear at the bottom of
each page. In addition, it shall be clearly indicated that the form is multiple
pages in length with page numbers in the following format: "Page [current page]
of [total number of pages]" as indicated on the DS-DE 156 form. Wherever the
DS-DE 155A or DS-DE 155B forms are circulated for signature, a copy of the full
text of the associated proposed amendment on DS-DE 156 shall also be provided
or displayed to show the voter before signing the
petition.
(3) Changes. Any change to a previously
approved petition form shall be submitted to the Secretary of State for review.
No person or entity other than the sponsoring political committee of the
previously approved petition form can submit a change or changes to the
previously approved petition form. The Secretary of State must approve any
material change to a previously approved petition form. A material change
constitutes a change in the wording of the text of the proposed amendment, the
ballot title, or ballot summary, or a change in punctuation or layout, or a
change in the name of the sponsoring political committee. Any material change
submitted for approval to a previously approved initiative petition constitutes
a request for approval of a new petition form and shall be assigned a different
serial number upon approval by the Secretary of State. Upon assignment of the
new serial number, the old serial number shall be deactivated, and the forms
bearing that serial number shall no longer be valid for circulation and
collection of signatures.
(4)
Translation. A translation into another language does not constitute a material
change to an initiative petition form. The sponsoring political committee is
responsible for ensuring that if translated into another language, the
translation must not add or subtract from the approved English language and
format of the petition and its blank entries.
(5) Reproduction. Subject to the requirements
of Section (2), petition forms may be reproduced in newspapers, magazines, and
other forms of printed mass media, made available through the internet for
download printing, or mailed, emailed, or faxed directly to voters, provided
such forms are reproduced in the same format as approved by the Secretary of
State. The petition forms may be included within a larger advertisement,
provided the forms are clearly defined by a solid or broken line
border.
(6) Petition Circulators.
(a) Paid Petition Circulator. An individual
who collects signatures for compensation for the purpose of qualifying a
proposed constitutional amendment for ballot placement is herein referred to as
a "paid petition circulator." A paid petition circulator must register online
with the Division of Elections through the Division's petition circulator
portal at
https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/InitiativePetitions/InitiativePetitionsPublic.
1. The paid petition circulator must provide
his or her name, permanent address, temporary address, if applicable, and date
of birth. Additionally, if the permanent address is not a Florida address, the
paid petition circulator must provide a Florida address at which the circulator
will accept service of process. The paid petition circulator must select each
approved initiative petition for which the circulator is being paid to collect
signatures. The paid petition circulator must email the Division of Elections
at DivElections@DOS.MyFlorida.com with any changes to name, permanent address,
and temporary address that occur subsequent to initial registration.
2. The Division of Elections shall assign a
login account. The paid petition circulator shall be assigned a unique paid
petition circulator registration number. If the petitions for which the
petition circulator is registered are closed, and the petition circulator is no
longer registered for any petitions, the Division will notify the petition
circulator via the email address used by the paid petition circulator to
register and inquire of the circulator's intent to remain registered. If the
Division does not receive a response from the paid petition circulator within
10 days, the paid petition circulator's online registration will expire. The
paid petition circulator may re-register at any time.
3. Once registered, a paid petition
circulator can obtain electronic copies of DS-DE 155B and DS-DE 156 forms from
the Division by logging into the petition circulator portal available on the
Division's website. The portal will provide each petition circulator with
electronic copies of DS-DE 155B forms in PDF format that provides the
circulator's information in the designated spaces on the form. The DS-DE 155B
petitions provided to the circulator will be uniquely marked for that
circulator. The circulator is then responsible for producing physical copies
from the electronic file.
(b) Volunteer Petition Circulators. All other
individuals who collect signatures, but not for compensation, for the purpose
of qualifying a proposed constitutional amendment for ballot placement are not
required to register with the Division of Elections. Volunteer circulators
shall circulate the DS-DE 155A form, as provided to the sponsoring political
committee or downloaded and printed from the Division of Elections'
website.
(7) Submission
of Signed Petition Forms. All signed petition forms shall be returned to the
sponsoring political committee. Only the sponsoring political committee shall
submit the signed petition forms to the Supervisors of Elections for
verification of signatures in accordance with Rule
1S-2.0091, F.A.C.
(8) Pursuant to Section
100.371(9),
F.S., the petition sponsor shall account for all petition forms turned in by
their agents. Such accounting shall be provided upon request to the Division of
Elections.
(9) Effect on Previously
Approved Petition Form.
(a) For volunteer
petition circulators, any petition form approved by the Secretary of State
prior to the effective date of this rule may continue to be used and circulated
for signature gathering unless a material change, as defined above in
subsection (3), to the previously approved petition form has been approved by
the Secretary of State or until the sponsoring political committee notifies the
Secretary of State that the committee is no longer seeking to obtain ballot
position, or the registration of the sponsoring political committee has been
revoked in accordance with Rule
1S-2.021, F.A.C.
(b) For forms circulated by paid petition
circulators, a signature gathered on or after October 1, 2021, the effective
date of this rule, may only be verified by a Supervisor of Elections in
accordance with Rule 1S-2.009, F.A.C., if the
signature is on Form DS-DE 155B, the paid petition circulator has signed the
Petition Circulator's Affidavit, and the paid petition circulator was validly
registered with the Division of Elections when the signature was
obtained.
Rulemaking Authority
20.10(3),
97.012(1),
100.371 (2),
(7),
101.161(2) FS.
Law Implemented 100.371,
101.161 FS.
New 7-2-79, Formerly 1C-7.09, Amended 7-7-86, Formerly
1C-7.009, Amended 3-5-96, 7-31-02, 3-16-06, 10-15-07, 10-13-08, 5-21-14,
10-1-21.
