HB 1261

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to election ballots; amending s. 101.161,
3F.S.; requiring placement of the full text of a proposed
4amendment or revision on the ballot if a court determines
5that the explanatory statement in a joint resolution does
6not satisfy statutory requirements; providing an effective
7date.
8
9Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
10
11     Section 1.  Section 101.161, Florida Statutes, is amended
12to read:
13     101.161  Referenda; ballots.-
14     (1)  Whenever a constitutional amendment or other public
15measure is submitted to the vote of the people, the substance of
16such amendment or other public measure shall be printed in clear
17and unambiguous language on the ballot after the list of
18candidates, followed by the word "yes" and also by the word
19"no," and shall be styled in such a manner that a "yes" vote
20will indicate approval of the proposal and a "no" vote will
21indicate rejection. The wording of the substance of the
22amendment or other public measure and the ballot title to appear
23on the ballot shall be embodied in the joint resolution,
24constitutional revision commission proposal, constitutional
25convention proposal, taxation and budget reform commission
26proposal, or enabling resolution or ordinance. Except for
27amendments and ballot language proposed by joint resolution, the
28substance of the amendment or other public measure shall be an
29explanatory statement, not exceeding 75 words in length, of the
30chief purpose of the measure. In addition, for every amendment
31proposed by initiative, the ballot shall include, following the
32ballot summary, a separate financial impact statement concerning
33the measure prepared by the Financial Impact Estimating
34Conference in accordance with s. 100.371(5). The ballot title
35shall consist of a caption, not exceeding 15 words in length, by
36which the measure is commonly referred to or spoken of.
37     (2)  The substance and ballot title of a constitutional
38amendment proposed by initiative shall be prepared by the
39sponsor and approved by the Secretary of State in accordance
40with rules adopted pursuant to s. 120.54. The Department of
41State shall give each proposed constitutional amendment a
42designating number for convenient reference. This number
43designation shall appear on the ballot. Designating numbers
44shall be assigned in the order of filing or certification and in
45accordance with rules adopted by the Department of State. The
46Department of State shall furnish the designating number, the
47ballot title, and the substance of each amendment to the
48supervisor of elections of each county in which such amendment
49is to be voted on.
50     (3)(a)  For any general election in which the Secretary of
51State, for any circuit, or the supervisor of elections, for any
52county, has certified the ballot position for an initiative to
53change the method of selection of judges, the ballot for any
54circuit must contain the statement in paragraph (b) or paragraph
55(c) and the ballot for any county must contain the statement in
56paragraph (d) or paragraph (e).
57     (b)  In any circuit where the initiative is to change the
58selection of circuit court judges to selection by merit
59selection and retention, the ballot shall state: "Shall the
60method of selecting circuit court judges in the ...(number of
61the circuit)... judicial circuit be changed from election by a
62vote of the people to selection by the judicial nominating
63commission and appointment by the Governor with subsequent terms
64determined by a retention vote of the people?" This statement
65must be followed by the word "yes" and also by the word "no."
66     (c)  In any circuit where the initiative is to change the
67selection of circuit court judges to election by the voters, the
68ballot shall state: "Shall the method of selecting circuit court
69judges in the ...(number of the circuit)... judicial circuit be
70changed from selection by the judicial nominating commission and
71appointment by the Governor with subsequent terms determined by
72a retention vote of the people to election by a vote of the
73people?" This statement must be followed by the word "yes" and
74also by the word "no."
75     (d)  In any county where the initiative is to change the
76selection of county court judges to merit selection and
77retention, the ballot shall state: "Shall the method of
78selecting county court judges in ...(name of county)... be
79changed from election by a vote of the people to selection by
80the judicial nominating commission and appointment by the
81Governor with subsequent terms determined by a retention vote of
82the people?" This statement must be followed by the word "yes"
83and also by the word "no."
84     (e)  In any county where the initiative is to change the
85selection of county court judges to election by the voters, the
86ballot shall state: "Shall the method of selecting county court
87judges in ...(name of the county)... be changed from selection
88by the judicial nominating commission and appointment by the
89Governor with subsequent terms determined by a retention vote of
90the people to election by a vote of the people?" This statement
91must be followed by the word "yes" and also by the word "no."
92     (4)  If a court determines that an explanatory statement
93embodied in a joint resolution does not satisfy the requirements
94of subsection (1), the full text of the proposed amendment or
95revision shall be included on the ballot in lieu of the
96explanatory statement.
97     Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.