Amendment 1 – Citizenship Requirement to Vote in Florida Elections

Hello Satellite Beach! Election time is coming up quickly. I know these Amendments can be quite confusing so I thought I would go over each amendment and explain, to the best of my ability, what a yes or no vote means.  I am starting with Amendment 1 and working my way down. Please feel free to email me with and questions.

Amendment 1

Citizen Requirement to Vote in Florida Elections

Ballot Language: “This amendment provides that only United States Citizens who are at least eighteen years of age, permanent residents of Florida, and registered to vote, as provided by laws, shall be qualified to vote in Florida election. “

Current Language:

• Article VI – Suffrage and Elections –
  • Section 2. Electors – Every Citizen of the United Sates who is at least eighteen years of age and who is a permanent resident of the state, if registered as provided by law, shall be an elector of the county where registered.

Proposed Language:

• Article VI – Suffrage and Elections –
  • Section 2. Electors – Only a citizen of the United States who is at least eighteen years of age and who is a permanent resident of the state, if registered as provided by law, shall be an elector of the county where registered.

So, what does a YES vote mean?

A YES Vote means that voting would be limited in elections to Only US Citizens who are 18 years old, permanent residents and registered.

Well, what about a NO vote?

A NO vote would keep the language as is. Which states Every Citizen.

At the end of the day, what does it really mean?

Well, my take on this, from what I can tell by my research, is that this amendment aims at not only stating who can vote but more specifically states who cannot vote. The broad language, as is, could potentially allow for non-citizens to vote in local elections for example, if a local government were to vote to allow this.  Although, currently none have done so at this time. It seems to be a preemptive measure to block this from potentially happening in the future.