A 2025 Florida law created stricter deadlines and regulations on citizens' initiatives. A federal trial could determine the fate of future attempts to change the state constitution via the ballot.
“This wasn't an attempt to make citizen-led ballot initiatives harder. It attempted to make them impossible,” said Mitch Emerson, executive director of Florida Decides Healthcare, standing outside the Tallahassee federal courthouse.
His group says it's unconstitutional and is suing. The trial started Monday and is expected to run through the middle of next week.
“There is a lot riding on the results of this case in terms of the future of Floridians' rights to participate in democracy and have their voices heard,” Emerson added.
Groups face tighter deadlines, higher fees, stricter regulations on who can collect signatures and how they’re handled, as well as steeper fines for any violation.
And last year’s law states anyone who collects more than 25 petitions from people who are not in their own family for a ballot measure must register with the state or face felony penalties.
The state argues lawmakers are allowed to pass regulations that address their concerns about fraud. Citizens’ groups say this is just an excuse to prevent constitutional amendments that conservatives in charge may not like.
In recent years, Floridians have approved ballot measures for medical marijuana, higher minimum wage and voting rights for those once imprisoned for felonies.
But the state says none of the 22 citizen-led amendment proposals aimed for the November 2026 election ballot are going to make it.
Smart & Safe Florida disputes that claim. It's running the campaign for recreational marijuana. If says courts may clear the way for it to reach the required signature threshold of nearly 900,000 Floridians.
It had more than that, but the state threw out signatures for reasons the campaign disputes.
Florida Decides Healthcare was attempting to get a measure on Medicaid expansion on the 2026 ballot but delayed the effort until 2028, citing the new law.
Smart & Safe Florida and other citizens’ initiative groups are backing Florida Decides Healthcare in the federal trial.
If you have any questions about state government or the legislative process, you can ask the Your Florida team by clicking here.
This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
