Amid the likely changes, petition signatures have continued pouring into the state Division of Elections in recent weeks, with two initiatives ready for Supreme Court review and others nearing that initial threshold.
Elections 2024
What Two Florida Counties’ Elections Supervisors Were Hacked by Russians? FBI Won’t Say, Upsetting Lawmakers.
The FBI has maintained there is no evidence that votes or voter information were altered in the hacking. But such assurances have drawn questions.
81% of Voters Reject Denver Initiative That Would Have Given Homeless Camping Rights Anywhere
While supporters said the measure would shield Denver’s estimated 3,445 people experiencing homelessness from unfair citations and arrests, it faced fierce opposition from businesses and environmental and social service organizations.
DeSantis Will Sign Controversial Bill With Conditions on Felons’ Voting Rights
Earlier in the day, the League of Women Voters of Florida held a conference call with reporters urging DeSantis to veto the Amendment 4 implementation bill.
‘Right To Survive’ Initiative: This City Might Give Homeless People the Right to Camp Anywhere
Denver’s ballot Initiative 300, a first-of-its-kind “Right to Survive,” would allow the homeless to camp anywhere on public lands without risk of arrest, If approved supporters aim to copy it elsewhere.
House Passes Controversial Felons’ Voting-Rights Bill, Setting Up Financial Hurdles Before Restoration
The House’s party-line, 71-45 vote drew a rebuke from backers of the amendment, who called the bill “a failure to live up to the bipartisan commitment” demonstrated by the 61 percent of voters who approved Amendment 4.
Abolish the Electoral College
Abolishing the Electoral College would level the playing field. It would ensure that people, not parties or mechanisms, determine who leads the country. Is that so bad? If you’re a Republican, yes.
It’ll Be Harder For Citizens To Get Their Initiatives On the Ballot If House Has Its Way
Petition-gatherers to be registered with the state, ballots would have to include information about contributions raised by amendment sponsors, whether out-of-state petition circulators were used and whether amendments could lead to tax increases.
Renner’s Panel Goes Jekyll and Hyde on Felons, Easing Punishments But Not Voting Rights
The House Judiciary Committee Palm Coast’s Paul Renner chairs on Tuesday passed a crime bill that eases some punishments and makes it easier for felons to reintegrate society but also passed a restrictive interpretation of Amendment 4 and felons’ right to vote.
Senate Panel Advances Bill That Would Require Felons to Pay Fines and Restitution Before Voting
The 3-2 party-line vote followed a hurried 27-minute hearing on the bill, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Brandes, the Pinellas County Republican. Opponents of the bill are pleading to make financial burdens a roadblock to voting.
Felons’ Right To Vote and Paul Renner’s Cynical End Run Around Amendment 4
Paul Renner, Flagler’s GOP representative and future Speaker of the House, is being dishonest and disingenuous in his defense of a bill that would make felons’ right to vote dependent on paying back all financial obligations.
‘That’s Like a Poll Tax’: Senate Bill Would Require All Restitution Paid Before Restoring Voting Right
Dozens of people who traveled to the state Capitol to plead with lawmakers to do nothing or to dramatically scale back House and Senate bills designed to carry out the amendment. Many amendment supporters do not believe the measure requires legislative action.
Voters, In a Constitutional Amendment, May Be Asked Whether To Abolish Constitutional Revision Commission
Proposals moved forward Thursday in the House and Senate, as lawmakers continue to vent frustration with the commission that last year put seven constitutional amendments before voters. All of the amendments passed.
Critics See Jim Crow Poll Taxes In House Plan To Make Felons Pay Up Before Voting
Felons would have to clear up any financial obligations, including court costs, fees and fines, before having their voting rights restored, under a House proposal castigated by critics Tuesday as a modern take on Jim Crow-era poll taxes designed to keep black voters from participating in elections.
If Your Ancestors Took Part in Flagler’s 1920 Election, AAUW Wants To Hear From You
American Association of University Women (AAUW) Flagler wishes to extend an invitation to the descendants of the women of Flagler County who were recognized and listed, by the Flagler Tribune, on October 21, 1920, as “Qualified Voters” for the November 2, 1920 General Election.
Recount Not Necessary: Jan Reeger Officially Wins Bunnell Seat by 2 Votes Over Daisy Henry
The Bunnell Canvassing Board met today to determine whether a provisional ballot might trigger a recount in the race between Jan Reeger Daisy Henry. It did not, as the ballot’s vote went to a third candidate.
Mealy and Belhumeur Keep Seats in Flagler Beach, Reeger and Baxley Win in Bunnell, Newcomer Doug O’Connor Wins Beverly Beach
Jane Mealy and Rick Belhumeur won decisively in Flagler Beach, Jan Reeger won by two votes in Bunnell, incumbent Bill Baxley won by a far larger margin, and in Beverly Beach, newcomer Doug O’Connor unseated one of three incumbents.
In Flagler Beach, Four Candidates for City Commission Reveal Sharp Differences Despite Surface Agreement
Incumbents Jane Mealy and Rick Belhumeur appeared with challengers Paul Eik and Deborah Phillips at a Woman’s Club forum that showed their paper similarities and vast personality differences.
Federal Appeals Court Hammers Florida For Imposing ‘Serious Burden’ on Right To Vote
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Florida law requiring voters’ signatures on mail-in ballots to match the signatures on file with elections officials imposes “a serious burden on the right to vote.”
Flagler Supervisor of Elections Wants To Know Why You Love Voting: Take the Survey
Flagler County Elections Supervisor Kaiti Lenhart is asking registered voters to take a five-question online survey about why and where they like to vote, grist for further voter outreach in the future.
Renner Wants ‘Objectivity’ To Drive Felons’ Voter Restoration, But Hurdles Are Multiplying
Elections officials could face a Herculean task trying to verify whether people who’ve registered to vote have met all the conditions required to make them eligible to cast ballots.
Starbucks’s Howard Schultz: Another Billionaire Presidential Candidate Who Doesn’t Get It
Privileged candidates from Donald Trump to Howard Schultz don’t have any idea what life is really like for a single parent raising two kids while working and attending night classes.
Report Details Ethics Allegations Against Gillum; His Attorney Calls It ‘Trivial Stuff’
The ethics commission also found probable cause to believe the former mayor “misused his position to accept things of value for himself and others in return for access and influence.”
Florida Ethics Commission Finds Probable Cause Gillum Violated Law in Accepting Gifts
The ethics complaint added to questions that dogged Gillum throughout his gubernatorial campaign about possible ties to an FBI investigation of Tallahassee City Hall.
In Restoration of Felons’ Voting Rights, Meaning of ‘Murder’ Becomes Stumbling Block
A new constitutional amendment grants “automatic” restoration of voting rights to felons who’ve completed their sentence, but it excludes people “convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense.”
Two Incumbents and Two Challengers Running in Flagler Beach’s March Election
The Flagler Beach March 5 election has drawn two incumbents, Jane Mealy and Rick Belhumeur, second-time challenger Paul Eik, and newcomer Deborah Phillips, a business owner in town.
Democrats Are Afraid Of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Too. That’s A Good Thing.
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is upsetting fellow Democrats over her support for progressive primary challenges against centrist Democrats. But it’s a sound idea for the party of alleged change.
Bunnell’s Catherine Robinson Yet Again Re-Elected Unopposed, 6 Running For 3 Seats
By the time Catherine Robinson takes the oath of office for her next term, she may face a very different commission, certainly with two new commissioners at the table, and possibly three.
Was Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes Treated Unfairly? Federal Judge Weighs Due Process
Brenda Snipes’ lawyers accused Gov. Rick Scott of trying to embarrass and humiliate the long-serving elections official. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker is hearing her lawsuit.
2018 Roundup: For Florida, Another Massacre, Another Hurricane, Another Shift To the Right
Florida was struck by a hurricane for the third year in a row, was the site of yet another mass shooting, saw the end of the Supreme Court’s liberal wing and the election of a Donald Trump acolyte as governor.
Broward Elections Supervisor Sues Scott, Calling Suspension ‘Malicious and Politically Motivated’
Suspended Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes has filed a federal lawsuit against Scott and Senate President Bill Galvano as she tries to regain her job.
Democrats’ Arafat Complex
Early possibilities for the 2020 election–Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton–suggest Democrats aren’t learning lessons but clinging to habits of self-destruction.
Ethics Commission Finds Probable Cause School Board’s Janet McDonald and Husband Dennis Violated Law on Disclosures
A state ethics investigation found that both Dennis and Janet McDonald inaccurately reported assets on disclosure forms ahead of election runs. The late Frank Meeker, a county commissioner, filed the ethics complaints shortly before his death in 2016.
In Novel Argument, Constitutional Amendment Spurs Call for Stay of Execution
The arguments center on part of Amendment 11, which was approved by 62 percent of voters and which changed a more than century-old provision dealing with how revisions in criminal laws should be applied to older crimes.
Putnam Stays Out Fight Over Concealed Weapons Permits as His Office Goes to a Democrat
After the concealed-weapons permitting processed revealed serious flaws under Adam Putnam, attempts are afoot to move the process to state police, out of the agriculture commissioner’s purview.
Supervisors of Election Seek Answer on Amendment Restoring Felons’ Right to Vote
Florida officials don’t have a plan for how to carry out a constitutional amendment that restores the right to vote to more than a million Floridians convicted of felonies.
Shortlist of 11 Young Ultra-Conservatives Lined Up for 3 Florida Supreme Court Seats
Ron DeSantis will pick from the list to replace liberal justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince, who have reached retirement age. All nominees were GOP appointees.
Nancy Pelosi’s Democrats Are Out Of Touch With Progressive Insurgents
Positions the timeworn Democratic leadership staked out are being overrun—outmatched by the cumulative power of dynamic social movements that have generated electoral clout.
In a Surprise, Bunnell Commissioner John Sowell Is Resigning, With Eye on County Seat
Bunnell City Commissioner John Sowell is resigning Friday and moving to a different part of the county, and is considering a run for the county commission seat held by Dave Sullivan.
Ambition and Pledges of Openness Frame Swearings-In at County Commission and Palm Coast Council
Joe Mullins was sworn-in as a county commissioner and Donald O’Brien elected chairman while Jack Howell and Eddie Branquinho took their seats on the Palm Coast council today.
It Won’t Be Like Medical Pot: Senate President Pledges Not to ‘Slow-Walk’ Amendments
Galvano said of amendments from restoring felon rights to limiting gambling that the “people have spoken,” and “I want to make sure we are being true to the intent of the voters.”
Nelson Concedes as Scott Wins Senate-Seat Recount With 10,000-Vote Margin
Scott, a two-term Republican governor, held a 10,033-vote edge — or 0.12 percent — over Nelson, a Democrat who was seeking re-election to his fourth six-year term in the U.S. Senate.
In War Over Words, Republicans Continue Easily To Defeat Democrats
The Republican Party lost ground in the Congressional and state elections earlier this month, but the GOP continues to triumph in the all-important contests over words, argues Ralph Nader.
DeSantis Wins Governor’s Race (Again), Manual Recounts For 2 Other Statewide Races
Ron DeSantis maintained almost his exact lead over Andrew Gillum after a machine recount. Manual recounts are ordered for the Scott-Nelson and Fried-Caldwell races.
No ‘Remedy In the Dark’: Federal Judge Rejects Nelson Bid To Extend Recount Deadline
The ruling could resolve questions about whether the recount process will move forward and whether official election results will be certified Tuesday as scheduled.
As Nelson Charges Interference, Scott Will Step Down From Canvassing Board
Democrats have alleged that Scott has improperly tried to use his authority as governor to influence the recount, which could decide his political future.
Democrats Won Big. But the Question Is Whether They Can Now Be Bold.
The reforms Democrats in Congress have championed have often been overly complicated and cautious — and deeply compromised by a fear of annoying deep-pocketed donors.
Recount Totals in Flagler Show Little Change, as in Other Small and Mid-Sized Counties
In Flagler County, each of the candidates in the recount gained a few dozen votes, but in proportions that did not change the winner’s margin or affected the state tally.
Historic Recount of 3 Races Begins in Flagler Amid Relaxed, Tranquil Atmosphere
No surprises and even less controversy is expected in Flagler County’s portion of a statewide recount, which will take much of Sunday and possibly spill over into Monday.
Muslims Surf the Blue Wave
The election of two Muslim women to Congress is a repudiation of Islamophobic domestic and foreign policies and of hostility to migrants and refugees from a number of countries.
