Update from Andrew Shirvell, Florida Voice for the Unborn.
In 2024 the pro-life movement in Florida defeated the radical pro-abortion amendment.
Here is a brief summary of the important changes to the process, which were upheld by a very liberal federal judge on June 4th:
-- mandating that all petition circulators, whether volunteer or paid, register with the state and undergo a state-provided online training [volunteers who collect signed petitions from certain immediate family members or collect 25 or less signed petitions from others are exempt from registration and the training].
-- requiring that all petition circulators be U.S. citizens and legal residents of Florida [convicted felons are also prohibited from circulating petitions unless they have had their right to vote fully restored].
-- the petition sponsoring organization must now turn-in signed petitions within 10 days of a voter signing the petition [the old law gave such organizations 30 days].
-- prohibiting the use of petition forms with the voter’s information already prefilled.
--requiring the petition signer to include additional identifying information when signing a petition, including the signer’s date of birth [or voter registration number] and the signer’s driver’s license / ID card number [or the last four digits of the signer’s social security number].
-- beginning October 1, 2025, the county supervisor of elections must notify every voter for which a signed petition has been turned-in to allow the voter the opportunity to either confirm or deny that he or she signed the petition in question.
-- positively changing the financial impact statement process so that this statement must be formulated and approved by the Financial Impact Estimating Conference prior to any petitions being circulated – and not after the amendment has been approved for ballot placement. Moreover, the financial impact statement would then be included on all petition forms that are circulated [this very crucial provision was part of the original Senate companion bill and was added to the House bill (HB 1205) when the Senate amended the House version on the floor during the last week of the regular 2025 Legislative Session…the new financial impact statement procedures will significantly slow down the petition-gathering process at the outset. Additionally, a good financial impact statement, like the one that appeared on the ballot regarding Amendment 4, will give many individuals pause before they sign onto the petition].
Importantly, the final version of the “Petition Reform Bill” maintains the satisfactory language that Florida Voice for the Unborn fought so hard for during the committee process, i.e., the provision that continues to permit the Governor, his staff, and Executive agencies to inform Florida citizens – with public funds – about issues, like Florida’s abortion laws, even while a proposed constitutional amendment is under consideration.