Florida Constitution Amendments: Proposal Methods and the 60% Vote

To amend the Florida Constitution, a proposed change must first be placed on the general election ballot through one of five routes, then win the support of at least 60 percent of voters. The routes are a legislative joint resolution, the Constitution Revision Commission, the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, a citizen initiative by petition, or a constitutional convention. Each has its own proposal rules, but the 60 percent vote at the ballot is the same for all of them. That threshold was raised from a simple majority in 2006.¹

The Five Ways to Propose an Amendment

Legislative Joint Resolution

The Florida Legislature can put an amendment on the ballot by passing a joint resolution with a three-fifths vote in both the House and the Senate. The governor’s signature is not required. Once the resolution passes, the proposal goes straight to voters at the next general election.²

Constitution Revision Commission

Every twenty years, a 37-member Constitution Revision Commission convenes to review the entire document and place proposed changes directly before voters. The most recent commission met in 2017–2018, and the next is scheduled for 2037.³ Unlike a citizen initiative, this commission can bundle multiple topics into a single ballot proposal.

Taxation and Budget Reform Commission

A separate commission focused on tax policy and government spending meets on its own twenty-year cycle. It first convened in 2007, and the next will meet in 2027. A proposal from this commission requires a two-thirds vote of its full membership before it can go on the ballot.³

Citizen Initiative

Florida residents can propose an amendment by petition. The signature threshold is 8 percent of the votes cast in the most recent presidential election, and signatures must come from at least half of the state’s congressional districts, with each qualifying district independently meeting the 8 percent mark.⁴ This is the only path that lets ordinary voters put an issue on the ballot without involving legislators or appointed officials.

Constitutional Convention

The broadest option is a constitutional convention, which could rewrite the entire document. Calling one requires a petition signed by 15 percent of the voters who participated in the last presidential election, with that threshold met in at least half of the congressional districts. If the petition qualifies, voters then decide at the next general election whether to hold the convention, and a simple majority is enough to authorize it. Delegates are elected from each state representative district at the following general election.³ No convention has been called under the current constitution.

What a Citizen Initiative Requires

Because the citizen initiative is the route most people will actually use, its procedural rules matter most. A missed deadline, faulty ballot language, or an incomplete petition form can end a campaign after millions of dollars have been spent.

Single Subject

Every citizen-initiated amendment must address a single subject. The Florida Supreme Court enforces this rule to prevent organizers from bundling popular measures with unpopular ones. There is one exception: proposals that limit the government’s power to raise revenue are not bound by the single-subject rule.²

The Petition Form

Under Florida Statute 100.371, each signed petition form must collect the voter’s full legal name, residential address and county, and identifying information (the Florida voter registration number or date of birth, plus a Florida driver license number, state ID number, or the last four digits of a Social Security number). The form must also include an attestation that the signer is a registered Florida voter petitioning to place the amendment on the ballot, along with the voter’s original signature and the date of signing. Beginning July 1, 2025, forms must also prominently display the financial impact statement once it has been prepared.⁵

Who Can Collect Signatures

Florida tightened its circulator rules starting in 2025. Anyone collecting more than 25 signed petition forms, beyond their own and those of immediate family members, must register as a petition circulator with the Secretary of State. Registered circulators must be U.S. citizens, Florida residents, and cannot have an unrestored felony conviction. Registration requires personal identification details, an in-state address for service of process, and sworn statements about citizenship and felony status. Before collecting signatures, registered circulators must complete an online training course developed by the Division of Elections. Sponsors cannot pay circulators on a per-signature basis.⁶

Ballot Language and Financial Impact

Florida Statute 101.161 limits the ballot title to 15 words and the explanatory summary to 75 words. Both must be written in clear language that tells voters what a “yes” vote means.⁷ Poorly drafted summaries are one of the most common reasons the Supreme Court blocks an initiative from reaching the ballot.

Every citizen initiative also requires a financial impact statement prepared by the Financial Impact Estimating Conference, a nonpartisan body. After the Secretary of State receives a proposed amendment, the Conference has 75 days to produce a statement estimating any increases or decreases in government revenue and costs. The statement cannot exceed 150 words and must appear on both the petition form and the ballot itself, listed separately after the ballot summary. The 75-day clock pauses while the Legislature is in session.⁵

Florida Supreme Court Review

The Florida Supreme Court reviews every citizen initiative before it can appear on the ballot. Under Florida Statute 16.061, the Attorney General must petition the court for an advisory opinion within 30 days of receiving the proposed amendment from the Secretary of State. The court examines whether the proposal complies with the single-subject rule, whether the ballot title and summary are accurate and not misleading, whether the proposal is facially valid under the U.S. Constitution, and whether the financial impact statement meets statutory requirements.⁸

If the court finds the ballot language misleading or the proposal in violation of the single-subject rule, the initiative is struck from the ballot regardless of how many signatures it has gathered. Sponsors who invest heavily in signature collection before the court rules are betting on their language surviving that review.

Verifying Signatures and Meeting the February 1 Deadline

Signed petitions are submitted to the Supervisor of Elections in the county where each signer is registered. The Supervisor verifies signatures against voter registration records. For initiative petitions, the verification fee is based on each county’s actual cost, which varies from one jurisdiction to the next, and Supervisors must post their current verification costs on their websites.⁵ For statewide campaigns verifying hundreds of thousands of signatures, this is a substantial budget line.

The required number of valid, verified signatures must be on file with the Secretary of State by February 1 of the general election year. The Secretary of State deems the petition filed on the date the threshold is met. Supervisors generally have 60 days to verify signatures after receiving them, but that window drops to 30 days for petitions submitted within 60 days of the February 1 deadline.⁹ Falling short by even one signature means the initiative cannot appear on that November’s ballot.

The 60 Percent Vote and When an Amendment Takes Effect

All proposed amendments, however they reach the ballot, appear before voters at the November general election. Passage requires approval from at least 60 percent of those voting on the measure. Florida originally required a simple majority, but voters approved the stricter threshold in 2006.¹

Amendments that clear 60 percent do not take effect on election night. Under Article XI, Section 5, approved changes become part of the constitution on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January following the election. That gap gives the Legislature, state agencies, and affected parties time to prepare for whatever the amendment requires.³

1
Florida Department of State. Constitutional Amendments/Initiatives
2
Ballotpedia. Article XI, Florida Constitution
3
Florida Senate. The Florida Constitution
4
Florida Department of State. Constitutional Amendments/Initiatives
5
Florida Statutes. Florida Code 100.371 – Initiatives; Procedure for Placement on Ballot
6
Florida Senate. Florida Code 100.371 – Initiatives; Procedure for Placement on Ballot
7
Florida Statutes. Florida Code 101.161 – Referenda; Ballots
8
Florida Senate. Florida Code 16.061 – Initiative Petitions
9
Florida House of Representatives. Florida Code 100.371 – Initiatives; Procedure for Placement on Ballot