ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Florida voters will have a decision to make on six amendments to the Florida constitution on Election Day.
Of the six proposed amendments, two amendments have garnered the most attention: Amendment 3 and Amendment 4. So, what do each of these amendments mean? And, what would happen if voters approve them?
Here's a closer look at Amendments 1 - 6 on Florida's ballot in the 2024 General Election:
Amendment 1, explained
Put it simply: Amendment 1 asks voters if they want candidates for school boards to pick a party if they want to run. Supporters believe it will add transparency to the process. Those opposed believe it will disenfranchise voters.
HJR 31, which made the ballot on June 21, 2023, seeks to require members of a district school board to be elected in a partisan election instead of a nonpartisan election. If passed, this amendment would only apply to elections held on or after the November 2026 General Election.
"However, partisan primary elections may occur before the 2026 general election for purposes of nominating political party candidates to that office for placement on the 2026 general election ballot," elections officials stated.
Amendment 2, explained
Put it simply: Florida voters will decide whether to put hunting and fishing rights in the state Constitution, as opponents have struggled to get their message out.
The Legislature put the proposed constitutional amendment, Amendment 2, on the Nov. 5 ballot. Supporters of the measure, titled “Right to Fish and Hunt,” have raised significantly more money than opponents and political experts think the proposal likely will receive the required support of 60 percent of voters to pass.
The amendment summary, the wording that voters see on the ballot, says, in part, that the measure would “preserve forever fishing and hunting, including by the use of traditional methods, as a public right and preferred means of responsibly managing and controlling fish and wildlife.”
For many voters, reading the summary might be the first time they really look at the measure, “which, as we well know, isn’t really the full story,” Susan MacManus, a retired political science professor at the University of South Florida, said.
When lawmakers decided in 2023 to put the measure on this year’s ballot, only Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book, D-Davie, voted against it. Legislative supporters said other states had passed similar rights and pointed to issues such as the role that hunting and fishing play in managing wildlife.
But Charles O'Neal, chairman of the opposition group NoTo2.Org and president of Speak Up Wekiva, has raised concerns that the proposal would override protections for fish stocks, such as nullifying the state’s gill-net ban, open state waters to foreign commercial fishing and possibly allow hunters to trespass on private property.
“Do you really want to give hunters the right to walk onto your property in pursuit of a raccoon or a bear?” O’Neal said.
Jim Turner of News Service Florida contributed to this report.
Amendment 3, explained
Put it simply: Amendment 3 would allow for those 21 or older to possess or buy it without a medical reason required. Gov. Ron DeSantis has urged the public to vote against it, calling it a corporate scheme. Proponents say it's about time to decriminalize recreational marijuana. Proponents add it's also a chance for the state to cash in more green due to the potential for tax revenue.
“This is one of the most egregious things I've ever seen attempted,” DeSantis said, saying the measure is not about personal freedom but making money for the company who bankrolled it.
“I’m hoping to see less arrests, and law enforcement resources going toward fighting real crime like violence and shootings," said attorney Michael Minardi of NORML Florida, which advocates for the reformation of marijuana laws.
This amendment made the ballot on June 1, 2023, and is sponsored by Smart & Safe Florida.
RELATED: Smoking in public? Home-grown pot? We VERIFY claims about Florida's recreational marijuana proposal.
Amendment 4, explained
Put it simply: This amendment would limit the government's interference in abortion.
More specifically, it would block any law or government from restricting an abortion before the point of viability — when the fetus is viable outside the womb. This is usually around 24 weeks of pregnancy.
If voters pass this amendment in November, the right to an abortion will be set in stone in the Florida constitution with this language:
No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient's health, as determined by the patient's healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature's constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.
This will get rid of Florida's 6-week abortion ban that's currently in place and stop Florida lawmakers from passing similar restrictions in the future.
To pass Florida's abortion rights amendment (Amendment 4), 60% of voters need to vote “yes" in the November 2024 election.
Currently, abortion is legal in Florida up to six weeks into the pregnancy. That dropped from 15 weeks when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed what's known as the "heartbeat bill" in April of 2023. Until 2022, abortion was legal in Florida up until 24 weeks into the pregnancy.
Amendment 5, explained
HJR 7017 made the ballot on March 31, 2024. It proposes an annual adjustment for inflation to the value of current or current or future homestead exemptions that applies solely to levies other than school district levies and for people with legal or equitable title to real estate, maintain permanent residence on the real estate or are legally or naturally dependent on the owner.
If approved, HJR 7017 would take effect Jan. 1, 2025. This amendment is sponsored by the Florida Legislature.
This would create an addition to Section 6 of Article 7 of the Florida Constitution that deals with homestead exemptions. Currently, homeowners in the state of Florida are allowed to exclude $25,000 of their home's assessed value for tax purposes.
If passed, this amendment would adjust that $25,000 based on inflation according to the consumer price index.
However, that would not apply to school taxes. The state's Revenue Estimating Conference predicts that if Amendment 5 passes, it would slightly reduce local government property taxes.
Amendment 6, explained
Amendment 6 also deals with public money, but public money for people hoping to become elected officials.
The text of Amendment 6 proposes to repeal the provision in the state constitution which requires public financing for campaigns of candidates for elective statewide office who agree to campaign spending limits. Current public campaign financing is available for candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, chief financial officer and agricultural commission who have already raised at least $100,000 themselves.
Amendment 6 would repeal a campaign finance law that was approved by voters in 1998. A similar amendment to repeal that law was proposed in 2010 but failed to receive the required number of votes.
Amendment 6 requires 60% of the vote to be approved.
Rich Donnelly of First Coast News contributed to this report.