To get a constitutional amendment on the ballot in Florida, you register a political committee, draft a proposal that fits the single-subject rule, collect valid voter signatures equal to 8% of the votes cast in the last presidential election (with that 8% also met in at least half of Florida’s 28 congressional districts), pay county supervisors to verify those signatures by February 1 of the election year, survive review by the Florida Supreme Court and a state financial impact analysis, and then win at least 60% of the vote on Election Day. Every step has its own deadlines and legal traps, and most campaigns that fail do so long before Election Day.
Register a Committee and Draft the Amendment
Before you collect a single signature, you have to register as a political committee with the state and file your proposed amendment with the Secretary of State. The filing includes three things: a ballot title of no more than 15 words, a ballot summary of no more than 75 words, and the full text of the amendment.1Online Sunshine. Florida Code 101.161 – Referenda; Ballots There is no filing fee at this stage.2Florida Department of State. Initiative Petition Handbook A sponsor can only champion one amendment at a time; a second proposal needs its own committee.3Florida Senate. Florida Code 100.371 – Initiatives; Procedure for Placement on Ballot
The amendment itself has to satisfy the single-subject rule in Article XI, Section 3 of the Florida Constitution. Each proposal can address only one subject and matters directly connected to it. Bundling unrelated provisions is called logrolling, and the Florida Supreme Court has struck proposals from the ballot for it. The title and summary face their own test: they have to describe the amendment accurately. Misleading ballot language is one of the most common reasons initiatives get killed in court.
Collect the Required Signatures
The signature threshold is 8% of the total votes cast in the most recent presidential election. That number has to be met twice over: statewide, and in at least half of Florida’s 28 congressional districts.4Florida Department of State. Constitutional Amendments/Initiatives The district requirement is where campaigns most often stall. Stacking signatures in Miami and Tampa does not satisfy the rule; you need meaningful numbers in rural districts too, which usually means paid circulators or an unusually deep volunteer network.
Each petition form must include the full text of the proposed amendment, and every signer must be a registered Florida voter. Signatures are dated when collected and remain valid only until February 1 of the next even-numbered year.3Florida Senate. Florida Code 100.371 – Initiatives; Procedure for Placement on Ballot A campaign that moves slowly will watch its earliest signatures expire before the drive is finished.
Petition Circulator Rules
Florida tightened its circulator rules in 2025 with House Bill 1205. Anyone collecting signatures, paid or volunteer, must be a Florida resident and a U.S. citizen. Paid circulators also have to register with the Secretary of State and pass a criminal background check. A person convicted of a felony whose voting rights have not been restored cannot circulate petitions. Sponsors who use ineligible circulators face fines of $50,000 per violation.5Florida Senate. CS/HB 1205 – Amendments to the State Constitution
You also cannot pay circulators per signature. Compensation has to be hourly or salaried.
Signature Fraud Penalties
Knowingly signing a petition more than once is a first-degree misdemeanor. Signing someone else’s name, using a fictitious name, or filling in missing information on a signed petition is a third-degree felony.6Online Sunshine. Florida Code 104.185 – Petitions; Knowingly Signing More Than Once; Signing Another Persons Name or a Fictitious Name
Pay for Signature Verification
Signatures are verified by county supervisors of elections, not by the state. You submit the forms to the supervisor in the county where each signer is registered, and you pay the actual verification cost, which each county posts on its website. These rates are reset every two years, on February 2 of each even-numbered year. For a statewide campaign submitting hundreds of thousands of forms, verification alone can run into six figures.
The standard verification window is 60 days from receipt of the petitions and payment. If petitions arrive less than 60 days before the February 1 deadline of an even-numbered year, the supervisor has 30 days.7Online Sunshine. Florida Code 100.371 – Initiatives; Procedure for Placement on Ballot Sponsors who cannot afford verification fees without undue hardship can submit a sworn affidavit to the Division of Elections and have signatures verified at no charge.8Florida Department of State. Initiative Petition Handbook
Clear Supreme Court Review and the Financial Impact Analysis
You do not wait until the end of the signature drive for judicial review. Once a proposal reaches 25% of the required signatures, and meets that 25% in at least half the congressional districts, it triggers mandatory review by the Florida Supreme Court and the start of a financial impact analysis.9Florida Department of State, Division of Elections. Initiatives / Amendments / Revisions Database For the 2026 cycle, that trigger was 220,016 signatures.
The court looks at two things. Does the amendment comply with the single-subject rule? And does the ballot title and summary give voters a fair picture of what they would be approving? A proposal that fails either test is removed from the ballot. Well-funded opponents concentrate their legal spending here, and it works.
At the same time, the Financial Impact Estimating Conference prepares the fiscal statement that will appear on the ballot next to the amendment. The FIEC has four members: a designee of the Governor from the Executive Office or a state agency, the coordinator of the Office of Economic and Demographic Research or their designee, a Senate staff member chosen by the Senate President, and a House staff member chosen by the Speaker. The conference has 75 days from receiving the proposal from the Secretary of State to finish its analysis, with the clock stopped while the legislature is in session.3Florida Senate. Florida Code 100.371 – Initiatives; Procedure for Placement on Ballot Sponsors and opponents can submit information, but the FIEC makes its own determination of the amendment’s effect on state and local revenues and spending.
Win 60% at the Polls
Clearing every procedural hurdle still leaves the hardest one. A proposed amendment needs at least 60% of the vote to pass.4Florida Department of State. Constitutional Amendments/Initiatives The 2024 cycle showed what that means in practice. Amendment 4, which would have protected abortion access until fetal viability, drew 57% support and failed. Amendment 3, which would have legalized recreational marijuana for adults 21 and over, also fell short of 60%. Both had clear majorities. Neither passed.
Key Deadlines for 2026
All petition signatures for the 2026 general election must be verified by February 1, 2026.3Florida Senate. Florida Code 100.371 – Initiatives; Procedure for Placement on Ballot Because verification takes up to 60 days, forms need to reach county supervisors well before that, and most serious campaigns aim to submit by late November 2025. The February 1 date is also when signatures expire. Anything collected for 2026 and not verified by that date is dead, and campaigns cannot carry leftover signatures into a future cycle.