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The CRC completed its work and submitted its final report. This website is maintained for archival purposes.

Florida Constitution Revision Commission

PUB 700328: New Suffrage & Election Article by Christopher Louis Licata III - Withdrawn by the Submitter

ARTICLE VI: SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS

SECTION 1. Regulation of elections.

All elections by the people shall be by direct and secret vote. General elections shall be determined by a plurality of votes cast. Registration and elections shall, and political party functions may, be regulated by law; however, the requirements for a candidate with no party affiliation or for a candidate of a minor party for placement of the candidate's name on the ballot shall be no greater than the requirements for a candidate of the party having the largest number of registered voters.
SECTION 2. Electors.

Every citizen of the United States who is at least eighteen years of age and who is a permanent resident of the state, if registered as provided by law, shall be an elector of the county where registered.
SECTION 3. Oath.

Each eligible citizen upon registering shall subscribe the following: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Florida, and that I am qualified to register as an elector under the Constitution and laws of the State of Florida."
SECTION 4. Disqualifications.
  1. No person convicted of a felony, or adjudicated in this or any other state to be mentally incompetent, shall be qualified to vote or hold office until restoration of civil rights or removal of disability.
  2. No person may appear on the ballot for re-election to any of the following offices:
    1. Florida representative,
    2. Florida senator,
    3. Florida Lieutenant governor,
    4. any office of the Florida cabinet,
    5. U.S. Representative from Florida, or
    6. U.S. Senator from Florida

    if, by the end of the current term of office, the person will have served (or, but for resignation, would have served) in that office for eight consecutive years.
SECTION 5. Primary, general, and special elections.
  1. A general election shall be held in each county on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year to choose a successor to each elective state and county officer whose term will expire before the next general election and, except as provided herein, to fill each vacancy in elective office for the unexpired portion of the term. A general election may be suspended or delayed due to a state of emergency or impending emergency pursuant to general law. Special elections and referenda shall be held as provided by law.
  2. If all candidates for an office have the same party affiliation and the winner will have no opposition in the general election, all qualified electors, regardless of party affiliation, may vote in the primary elections for that office.
SECTION 6. Municipal and district elections.

Registration and elections in municipalities shall, and in other governmental entities created by statute may, be provided by law.
SECTION 7. Campaign spending limits and funding of campaigns for elective state-wide office.

It is the policy of this state to provide for state-wide elections in which all qualified candidates may compete effectively. A method of public financing for campaigns for state-wide office shall be established by law. Spending limits shall be established for such campaigns for candidates who use public funds in their campaigns. The legislature shall provide funding for this provision. General law implementing this paragraph shall be at least as protective of effective competition by a candidate who uses public funds as the general law in effect on January 1, 1998.

NEW ARTICLE

Title: REPLACEMENT ARTICLE 6

 

Section 1

  1. All residents of Florida whom are also Citizens of the United States and above the age of eighteen shall be issued at no cost a certificate of residency.
  2. An American Citizen shall not be denied or abridged rights on any account of: race, creed, color, income, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, net worth, philosophical ideology, failure to pay any type of tax or any other reason other than being incarcerated at that moment in time; this is to say all Citizens of the United States shall be guaranteed equal rights and protections under the law and as are common to all other Citizens.  
  3. A Citizen of the United States having received his or her Certificate of Residency to the State of Florida and thus; being responsible for the Republic at large and having a voice in the vector of his or her government; therefore he or she shall be automatically registered to vote and may exercise the right of suffrage in elections at all levels of government; solely upon the presentation of their certificate of residency. The right of suffrage without presentation of their certificate of residency shall be prohibited. 
  4. The certificate of residency shall take record of the citizen's residence; thus making a claim of which Municipality if any; which representative district and which County that citizen is a resident of; and may vote within; this may change and shall be updated at no cost upon new residency of every citizen. The certificate of residency shall double as a single backup record of any crimes, licenses or special permits granted upon that Citizen by any level of government. Upon death or permanent change of residency out of state the certificate of residency be destroyed; the revoking or confiscation of a certificate shall not occur without due process.

Section 2

  1. Each political party shall hold a primary election for the purpose of ranking candidates for a particular office within each political party via an instant exhaustive election. This shall occur on 2nd Wednesday of March of the same calendar year of that general election.
  2. General Elections at State, County, and Municipality levels will be held on the 1st Wednesday of July. For Legislators, this shall be of even numbered years and for Executives, odd number years. The places of elections shall be as prescribed by the law of each County. In all cases, this regular election cycle shall be maintained. 
  3. Instant exhaustive elections shall be defined, that the elector shall cast a secret vote of numerical rank preference of parties running for a particular office, and each elector may list as many or as few parties as he or she desires, but if all of the elector's preferences are eliminated so to shall that ballot be removed in subsequent rounds. In all cases should the elector's prefer choice be eliminated the full weight of the vote shall be transferred to that elector's next choice.
  4. All elector's 1st choice ballots shall be tallied in the 1st round. Then the candidate or party with the least votes shall be eliminated, that eliminated ballots only shall be redistribution to every elector's 2nd choice, added respectively and tallied as a 2nd round; once again the candidate or party with the least votes shall be eliminated those ballots and only those ballots redistribution to every elector's next choice, again added respectively and tallied as a 3rd round. This shall continue until two candidates or parties remain and whomever of the two shall have an actual majority of votes shall be the victor.

Section 3

  1. Prior to any Citizen enters a term of office that they have been elected or appointed at any level of government the Oath shall be read aloud, but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or position of public trust.
  2. The Oath shall be taken publicly, and shall read as follows
    1. "I do solemnly swear and affirm before my Creator and fellow Citizens; that I will faithfully execute the powers, duties, and responsibilities of the office of (which I am about to enter); that I will preserve, uphold and protect the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of Florida against all who threaten them; That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. So help me God."