Progressive groups release ‘Informed Voters’ guide to Florida ballot initiatives

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Progress Florida and the group Florida Watch have released an “Informed Voters” guide to amendments on the ballot in Florida this General Election.

The guide outlines six proposed constitutional amendments, including information about what the amendments would do, recommendations from participating civic engagement and advocacy organizations on how to vote on each initiative, and links to more information.

The guide includes recommendations on how to vote on each amendment from several organizations, including the League of Women Voters of Florida, the NAACP Florida State Conference, Mi Familia en Acción, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Florida, ACLU Florida, Florida For All, Common Cause Florida, Equality Florida, the Florida National Organization for Women, Equal Ground, and the National Council of Jewish Women.

Not every organization offers the same voting recommendation in the guide. Each amendment in the guide contains a brief description of the initiative. Next to that, there are boxes corresponding to each organization, with a “no” in red to indicate opposition to the amendment, a “yes” in green to indicate support, or a blank box to indicate no position taken. 

On Amendment 1, for example, all participating organizations recommend voting no, except for ACLU Florida, which did not take a position. Amendment 1 would make school board races partisan, meaning candidates’ party affiliations would appear on ballots. 

Likewise on Amendment 2, which would establish a constitutional right to fish and hunt, only two organizations weighed in. The Florida National Organization for Women and the National Council of Jewish Women each recommend a no vote. All other organizations declined to take a position. 

Two amendments appearin on the ballot have received the most attention this year — Amendment 3 to legalize recreational pot for adults 21 and older and Amendment 4 to enshrine abortion access into the state constitution.

On Amendment 3, six organizations recommend a yes vote, including the NAACP Florida State Conference, the SEIU, the ACLU, the Florida National Organization for Women, Equal Ground and the National Council of Jewish Women. The others — the League of Women Voters, Mi Familia en Acción, Florida for All, Common Cause Florida and Equality Florida — did not take a position. 

All of the organizations except for Common Cause Florida recommend voting yes on Amendment 4. 

Only one organization weighed in on Amendment 5, which would increase the homestead exemption annually based on inflation — something the guide notes would cut “funding communities utilize for programs and services. The NAACP Florida State Conference recommends voting no. 

Amendment 6 would end Florida’s existing practice of offering public campaign finance, an incentive for candidates who agree to certain terms and auditing requirements. All but four of the participating organizations recommend a no vote on that amendment, while the others did not take a position.