A federal court on Thursday blocked implementation of a new Florida law capping campaign contributions that support citizen-initiated efforts to amendment the Florida Constitution.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and other voting-rights interests persuaded Judge Allen Winson, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, that the cap may cripple citizens’ ability to gather the signatures required by law to place a proposed constitutional amendment on the next general ballot. The injunction is temporary, pending further court proceedings.
Petitioning is the only way for citizens to propose amendments. Recent, successful amendment drives include gradually increasing the state minimum wage to $15 per hour, restoring voting rights for ex-felons, and legalizing medical marijuana.
The new cap on campaign contributions exempts donations to political parties.
Sponsored in the 2021 Legislature by Republicans Sen. Ray Rodrigues of Lee County and Rep. Bobby Payne of north-central Florida, the cap would have taken effect today, limiting individual donations to $3,000 per campaign. Previously, there was no limit.
The Florida Division of Elections lists 31 active citizen-initiated amendment drives, 13 of them filed in 2021, all of which would be subject to the limit on contributions during the signature-gathering phase of their campaigns.
“Senate Bill 1890 is just another attempt to undermine Florida citizens’ rights and we are pleased the court blocked it from going into effect today,” said Nicholas Warren, staff attorney at the ACLU of Florida, in a statement announcing the injunction.
“The Florida Legislature has made it increasingly harder and costlier to propose citizens’ initiatives and get them on the ballot. We know this effort is unconstitutional because it violates Floridians’ First Amendment rights, and we look forward to getting the law permanently struck down.”
The ACLU, representing the Fair Elections for Democracy Campaign, argued in court that SB 1890 limits the campaign’s ability to spread its message and ideas for improving Florida’s democracy. It contends the law functionally disables campaigns from collecting the signatures needed to get their initiatives on the ballot, due to the high cost of collecting petition signatures in a state the size of Florida.
Based on current population estimates, petitioners must gather nearly 900,000 voter signatures to be permitted on a general-election ballot.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is defending SB 1890 for the state. She argued in court the new law does not violate First Amendment rights because the cap applies only during the signature-gathering phase and not afterward.
The post Federal court blocks FL limit on financial help for citizen's constitutional amendment drives first appeared on Daily Florida Press.
from Daily Florida Press https://dailyfloridapress.com/federal-court-blocks-fl-limit-on-financial-help-for-citizens-constitutional-amendment-drives/
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