Hometown Democracy petitions for grievances

Florida Hometown Democracy is now a federal case. Supporters of the proposed state constitutional amendment filed suit in U.S. district court this month seeking certification of all valid petitions, and placement on the ballot as early as November.

With the clock ticking away, the wheels of justice may not turn in time. But, if nothing else, FHD’s legal challenge strikes a blow to Florida’s (mis)handling of the constitutional amendment process. Hometown Democracy’s lawsuit identifies four key problems:

1. “There is no rational basis for the state’s change to a Feb. 1 combined filing and certification deadline, which should be declared unconstitutional. The remedy is a return to the prior deadline of August 2008.”

2. “The 68 varying methods that local supervisors of elections and the state Division of Elections use for validating signatures is a violation of equal protection. The remedy is to have all rejected FHD signatures examined under a uniform standard set by the court.”

3. “The state’s new statute allowing businesses to choose which organizations may come on their property to petition is a violation of the constitutional right to petition for referenda, and was never properly obtained by a constitutional amendment. The remedy is to strike down the statute.”

4. “The state must be required to abide by its own statute that says an initiative qualifies whenever it submits the valid number of signatures — not just every two years at unpredictably varying deadlines, as the state has acted.”

With the help of national ballot-access expert Gary Sinawski, FHD defenders make a plausible case of a public process hijacked by private interests. Harried by the Florida Chamber of Commerce and a phalanx of 110 developer-driven groups (including pro-growth elected officials), Hometown Democracy petitioners ran a three-year legal gantlet, including five appearances before the Florida Supreme Court — only to be told they came up short of the required 611,000 signatures.

On Feb. 1, the state announced FHD had only 545,877 valid signatures. Yet that figure kept climbing as supervisors continued to process petitions filed before Feb. 1. The latest tally stands at 594,563.

“The chamber train-wrecked the process. They paid for 650,000 petitions and dumped them all at once on the supervisors of elections around the state in January,” says Hometown president and Palm Beach attorney Lesley Blackner.

The chamber’s rival petition drive, branded “Floridians for Smarter Growth,” hasn’t made the ballot either. But opponents figure their effort was successful as long as FHD doesn’t get to the voters.

For added insurance, Associated Industries of Florida chipped away at FHD by launching an unprecedented signature revocation campaign. This costly effort knocked out 13,182 signatures — until a Florida appellate court ruled revocation was unconstitutional because it was enacted by the Legislature, not by the people.

Ultimately, that’s the crux of FHD’s federal case. Accusing legislators, along with state and local officials, of arbitrarily (even capriciously) manipulating the petition process from start to finish, Hometown is taking its plea to the next level.

If this is starting to sound like a replay of the 2000 election mess, your memory isn’t failing you. Federal courts have determined that ballot petitions are as sacrosanct as votes. Until every petition and signature are handled fairly, consistently and on time, Floridians’ First Amendment rights are abused, and democracy hangs by a thread. 

ken.ward@scripps.com