HB 1261

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to election ballots; amending s. 101.161,
3	F.S.; requiring placement of the full text of a proposed
4	amendment or revision on the ballot if a court determines
5	that the explanatory statement in a joint resolution does
6	not satisfy statutory requirements; providing an effective
7	date.
8
9	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
10
11	Section 1.  Section 101.161, Florida Statutes, is amended
12	to read:
13	101.161  Referenda; ballots.-
14	(1)  Whenever a constitutional amendment or other public
15	measure is submitted to the vote of the people, the substance of
16	such amendment or other public measure shall be printed in clear
17	and unambiguous language on the ballot after the list of
18	candidates, followed by the word "yes" and also by the word
19	"no," and shall be styled in such a manner that a "yes" vote
20	will indicate approval of the proposal and a "no" vote will
21	indicate rejection. The wording of the substance of the
22	amendment or other public measure and the ballot title to appear
23	on the ballot shall be embodied in the joint resolution,
24	constitutional revision commission proposal, constitutional
25	convention proposal, taxation and budget reform commission
26	proposal, or enabling resolution or ordinance. Except for
27	amendments and ballot language proposed by joint resolution, the
28	substance of the amendment or other public measure shall be an
29	explanatory statement, not exceeding 75 words in length, of the
30	chief purpose of the measure. In addition, for every amendment
31	proposed by initiative, the ballot shall include, following the
32	ballot summary, a separate financial impact statement concerning
33	the measure prepared by the Financial Impact Estimating
34	Conference in accordance with s. 100.371(5). The ballot title
35	shall consist of a caption, not exceeding 15 words in length, by
36	which the measure is commonly referred to or spoken of.
37	(2)  The substance and ballot title of a constitutional
38	amendment proposed by initiative shall be prepared by the
39	sponsor and approved by the Secretary of State in accordance
40	with rules adopted pursuant to s. 120.54. The Department of
41	State shall give each proposed constitutional amendment a
42	designating number for convenient reference. This number
43	designation shall appear on the ballot. Designating numbers
44	shall be assigned in the order of filing or certification and in
45	accordance with rules adopted by the Department of State. The
46	Department of State shall furnish the designating number, the
47	ballot title, and the substance of each amendment to the
48	supervisor of elections of each county in which such amendment
49	is to be voted on.
50	(3)(a)  For any general election in which the Secretary of
51	State, for any circuit, or the supervisor of elections, for any
52	county, has certified the ballot position for an initiative to
53	change the method of selection of judges, the ballot for any
54	circuit must contain the statement in paragraph (b) or paragraph
55	(c) and the ballot for any county must contain the statement in
56	paragraph (d) or paragraph (e).
57	(b)  In any circuit where the initiative is to change the
58	selection of circuit court judges to selection by merit
59	selection and retention, the ballot shall state: "Shall the
60	method of selecting circuit court judges in the ...(number of
61	the circuit)... judicial circuit be changed from election by a
62	vote of the people to selection by the judicial nominating
63	commission and appointment by the Governor with subsequent terms
64	determined by a retention vote of the people?" This statement
65	must be followed by the word "yes" and also by the word "no."
66	(c)  In any circuit where the initiative is to change the
67	selection of circuit court judges to election by the voters, the
68	ballot shall state: "Shall the method of selecting circuit court
69	judges in the ...(number of the circuit)... judicial circuit be
70	changed from selection by the judicial nominating commission and
71	appointment by the Governor with subsequent terms determined by
72	a retention vote of the people to election by a vote of the
73	people?" This statement must be followed by the word "yes" and
74	also by the word "no."
75	(d)  In any county where the initiative is to change the
76	selection of county court judges to merit selection and
77	retention, the ballot shall state: "Shall the method of
78	selecting county court judges in ...(name of county)... be
79	changed from election by a vote of the people to selection by
80	the judicial nominating commission and appointment by the
81	Governor with subsequent terms determined by a retention vote of
82	the people?" This statement must be followed by the word "yes"
83	and also by the word "no."
84	(e)  In any county where the initiative is to change the
85	selection of county court judges to election by the voters, the
86	ballot shall state: "Shall the method of selecting county court
87	judges in ...(name of the county)... be changed from selection
88	by the judicial nominating commission and appointment by the
89	Governor with subsequent terms determined by a retention vote of
90	the people to election by a vote of the people?" This statement
91	must be followed by the word "yes" and also by the word "no."
92	(4)  If a court determines that an explanatory statement
93	embodied in a joint resolution does not satisfy the requirements
94	of subsection (1), the full text of the proposed amendment or
95	revision shall be included on the ballot in lieu of the
96	explanatory statement.
97	Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.