Florida Hometown Democracy
From Ballotpedia
Contents |
The Florida Hometown Democracy (FHD) PAC is a political action committee based in Florida. The group focuses on environmental issues and is currently trying to pass the Florida Referendum for Land Use (2008) initiative.
Petition signature revocation
The 2007 law allowing voters to revoke their signatures from ballot-initiative petitions was ruled unconstitutional by three Florida appellate court judges. According to a written statement of the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee, the law does not ensure ballot integrity for citizens and citizens' groups trying to amend the state constitution. The court further decided that lawmakers should have let voters decide whether or not that provision should be included. The court directed the circuit court in Leon County to reverse its earlier ruling on the complaint filed last year by Florida Hometown Democracy, who are trying to give voters the final say on city and county long-term growth plans. Critics of Hometown Democracy, among them many businesses, say that would greatly hinder Florida's development economy. A business-backed group called Save Our Constitution got over 13,000 Hometown Democracy petitions revoked, however even if they were reinstated, the initiative would still be more than 65,000 petitions short of the February 1 deadline for the 2008 ballot [1]
Signature revocation challenge struck down
Leon County Circuit Judge Charles A. Francis rejected FHD's challenge to a new law that allows voters to revoke petition signatures on ballot initiatives. Save Our Constitution, the primary opponent of the group's proposed amendment, has used the new law to try to cut the number of signatures its supporters have collected to try to get on the November 2008 ballot.[2]
Hometown Democracy has appealed that ruling to the First District Court of Appeals.[3]
External links
References
- ↑ Newsjournalonline.com, "Court rules against petition signature revocation," April 24, 2008
- ↑ Judge upholds signature revocation law, Tampa Bay Business Journal, Nov. 28, 2007
- ↑ St. Petersburg Times: "Targeting paid petition-gatherers," April 1, 2008
