House Bill 1955
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 2000 HB 1955
By the Committee on Judiciary and Representative Byrd
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to referenda ballots; amending
3 s. 101.161, F.S.; exempting amendments and
4 ballot language proposed by joint resolution
5 from length restrictions that apply to the
6 ballot statement; revising ballot language used
7 to change the method of selecting circuit and
8 county court judges; providing an effective
9 date.
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11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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13 Section 1. Section 101.161, Florida Statutes, is
14 amended to read:
15 101.161 Referenda; ballots.--
16 (1) Whenever a constitutional amendment or other
17 public measure is submitted to the vote of the people, the
18 substance of such amendment or other public measure shall be
19 printed in clear and unambiguous language on the ballot after
20 the list of candidates, followed by the word "yes" and also by
21 the word "no," and shall be styled in such a manner that a
22 "yes" vote will indicate approval of the proposal and a "no"
23 vote will indicate rejection. The wording of the substance of
24 the amendment or other public measure and the ballot title to
25 appear on the ballot shall be embodied in the joint
26 resolution, constitutional revision commission proposal,
27 constitutional convention proposal, taxation and budget reform
28 commission proposal, or enabling resolution or ordinance.
29 Except for amendments and ballot language proposed by joint
30 resolution, the substance of the amendment or other public
31 measure shall be an explanatory statement, not exceeding 75
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Florida House of Representatives - 2000 HB 1955
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1 words in length, of the chief purpose of the measure. The
2 ballot title shall consist of a caption, not exceeding 15
3 words in length, by which the measure is commonly referred to
4 or spoken of.
5 (2) The substance and ballot title of a constitutional
6 amendment proposed by initiative shall be prepared by the
7 sponsor and approved by the Secretary of State in accordance
8 with rules adopted pursuant to s. 120.54. The Department of
9 State shall give each proposed constitutional amendment a
10 designating number for convenient reference. This number
11 designation shall appear on the ballot. Designating numbers
12 shall be assigned in the order of filing or certification of
13 the amendments. The Department of State shall furnish the
14 designating number, the ballot title, and the substance of
15 each amendment to the supervisor of elections of each county
16 in which such amendment is to be voted on.
17 (3)(a) The ballot for the general election in the year
18 2000 must contain a statement allowing voters to determine
19 whether circuit or county court judges will be selected by
20 merit selection and retention as provided in s. 10, Art. V of
21 the State Constitution. The ballot in each circuit must
22 contain the statement in paragraph (c). The ballot in each
23 county must contain the statement in paragraph (e).
24 (b) For any general election in which the Secretary of
25 State, for any circuit, or the supervisor of elections, for
26 any county, has certified the ballot position for an
27 initiative to change the method of selection of judges, the
28 ballot for any circuit must contain the statement in paragraph
29 (c) or paragraph (d) and the ballot for any county must
30 contain the statement in paragraph (e) or paragraph (f).
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Florida House of Representatives - 2000 HB 1955
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1 (c) In any circuit where the initiative is to change
2 the selection of circuit court judges to selection by merit
3 selection and retention, the ballot shall state: "Shall the
4 method of selecting circuit court judges in the ...(number of
5 the circuit)... judicial circuit be changed from election by a
6 vote of the people to selection by the judicial nominating
7 commission and appointment by the Governor with subsequent
8 terms determined by a retention vote of the people selected
9 through merit selection and retention?" This statement must be
10 followed by the word "yes" and also by the word "no."
11 (d) In any circuit where the initiative is to change
12 the selection of circuit court judges to election by the
13 voters, the ballot shall state: "Shall the method of selecting
14 circuit court judges in the ...(number of the circuit)...
15 judicial circuit be changed from selection by the judicial
16 nominating commission and appointment by the Governor with
17 subsequent terms determined by a retention vote of the people
18 to election by a vote of the people selected by vote of the
19 electorate of the circuit?" This statement must be followed by
20 the word "yes" and also by the word "no."
21 (e) In any county where the initiative is to change
22 the selection of county court judges to merit selection and
23 retention, the ballot shall state: "Shall the method of
24 selecting county court judges in ...(name of county)... be
25 changed from election by a vote of the people to selection by
26 the judicial nominating commission and appointment by the
27 Governor with subsequent terms determined by a retention vote
28 of the people selected through merit selection and retention?"
29 This statement must be followed by the word "yes" and also by
30 the word "no."
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 2000 HB 1955
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1 (f) In any county where the initiative is to change
2 the selection of county court judges to election by the
3 voters, the ballot shall state: "Shall the method of selecting
4 county court judges in ...(name of the county)... be changed
5 from selection by the judicial nominating commission and
6 appointment by the Governor with subsequent terms determined
7 by a retention vote of the people to election by a vote of the
8 people selected by vote of the electorate of the county?" This
9 statement must be followed by the word "yes" and also by the
10 word "no."
11 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
12 law.
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15 HOUSE SUMMARY
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Exempts amendments and ballot language proposed by joint
17 resolution from the length restrictions that apply to the
ballot statement. Revises ballot language used to change
18 the method of selecting circuit and county court judges
to clarify the alternatives.
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