In
a rebuff to the Florida Legislature, and its allies at the Florida
Chamber of Commerce, the First District Court of Appeal has sided with
Hometown Democracy. The court on Wednesday ruled that the law that
created the process that allows the revocation of petition signatures
is unconstitutional and that rules used by the state to implement the
process are also not allowed.
The ruling raises fresh questions about the decision to deny
Hometown Democracy a place on the ballot since thousands of the
signatures gathered by the group were in fact revoked. The opinion
states that the law "are unconstitutional because they do not ensure
ballot integrity. They do not serve to confirm compliance with
constitutionally-specified requirements for submission of proposed
amendments through the initiative process...Instead they serve to
burden the initiative process with requirements that are not prescribed
in the constitution." Read ruling here. Download the Court's Ruling
here.
