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A 'dark money'-funded ballot measure in Florida could make it harder to pass future amendments

Florida ballots
An employee works with ballot tabulating machines as counting is underway for the general election at the Broward County Voting Equipment Center, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020, in Lauderhill, Fla. AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
  • If passed, an initiative on the Florida ballot this year — Amendment number 4 — would require any future amendments to be passed in two consecutive elections.

  • Currently, amendments require 800,000 signatures in order to get on the ballot. They then require a 60% majority in order to be signed into law.

  • If the "Are You Sure" amendment passes, such a process would have to occur twice in order for a ballot measure to become law.

  • The "Are You Sure" measure was sponsored by Keep Our Constitution Clean, a secretive nonprofit with ties to a major business advocacy organization in Florida.

  • Opponents of the amendment say it's yet another attempt from the Republican-led legislature to suppress the vote by making it more difficult to get amendments on the ballot.

  • "Amendments should be reserved for things that change the foundational nature of the constitution, not something that should be properly done through the legislature," says Jason Zimmerman, the chairman of Keep Our Constitution Clean, the organization sponsoring the ballot measure.

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In the next election cycle after 2020, Florida voters might not pass any constitutional amendments. If passed, an initiative on the ballot this year — Amendment number 4 — would require any future amendments to be passed in two consecutive elections. Only one other state, Nevada, has a similar requirement in its constitution.

The "Are You Sure" measure was sponsored by Keep Our Constitution Clean, a secretive nonprofit with ties to a major business advocacy organization in Florida. Currently, amendments require 800,000 signatures in order to get on the ballot. They then require a 60% majority in order to be signed into law. If the "Are You Sure" amendment passes, such a process would have to occur twice in order for a ballot measure to become law.

Opponents of the amendment say it's yet another attempt from the Republican-led legislature to suppress the vote by making it more difficult to get amendments on the ballot.

"What we often find is we pass amendments in a bipartisan way," says Chris King, an outspoken opponent to the ballot measure who ran for Lieutenant Governor of Florida alongside Andrew Gillum in the 2018 gubernatorial race. "And then the legislature does not enact it, they don't execute it. This amendment is essentially an effort to make it more difficult...to listen to what voters want to have happen in Florida."

Florida election .JPG
A poll worker casts a mail-in ballot for a disabled driver on the last day of early voting for the U.S. presidential election at the C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. Public Library in East Tampa, Florida, U.S., August 16, 2020. REUTERS/Octavio Jones

King says the "Are You Sure" measure is a direct response to a 2018 amendment that restored the right to vote to the 1.4 million Floridians with felony convictions. The amendment passed with 65% of the vote — a significant majority in a state known for close elections. Since the last election, the legislature has slowly chipped away at the landmark law by requiring felons to pay court fines and fees before they can register to vote. In May, a federal judge found that requirement to be unconstitutional, saying it was akin to a poll tax. However, the decision was overturned last month by an appeals court.

Proponents of the "Are You Sure" amendment say the measure isn't connected to the restoring felons' right to vote. "Amendments should be reserved for things that change the foundational nature of the constitution, not something that should be properly done through the legislature," says Jason Zimmerman, the chairman of Keep Our Constitution Clean, the organization sponsoring the ballot measure.

Keep Our Constitution Clean is a so-called "dark money" group, meaning that it can legally hide the identities of most of its donors. However, an investigation by the Orlando Sentinel found that the organization has substantial financial ties to Associated Industries of Florida (AIF), a lobbying organization for some of the state's largest businesses.

In addition to leading Keep Our Constitution Clean, Zimmerman is also a shareholder at GrayRobinson, a law firm whose lawyers have represented AIF and sit on its advisory committee. Keep Our Constitution Clean also works with a communications firm that counts AIF as one of its clients. Zimmerman says he doesn't believe he or his law firm have had a relationship with the lobbying organization.

Should the measure pass, critics say it would have dire implications on the state's ability to function democratically. "The long term implication of this is that Florida becomes less democratic," says King. "It's already pretty hard down here. This would make it harder."

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