Miami-Dade County, Florida ballot measures
From Ballotpedia
Petition rules
Miami-Dade County is a charter county and its charter gives the right of initiative, referendum and recall to all political jurisdictions within the county.
In 2006, the Miami-Dade Board of Commissioners enacted a new set of rules that make it much harder for a local recall petition drive to succeed. The Miami-Dade commissioners enacted these new rules in 2006 after controversial Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez succeeded in a petition drive to put a so-called strong mayor initiative on the ballot, which was approved.[1]
Michael Pizzi, the Mayor of Miami Lakes, filed a lawsuit challenging these new petition restrictions in September 2009.
The new requirements that were imposed in 2006 include:
- A stipulation that there can be only one signature per page.
- A provision allowing a signer to rescind his or her signature within 15 days of having signed.
- Fines or jail time for people who lied during a petition drive. This provision was struck down in 2008 by U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold, who said it violated the First Amendment.
Pizzi, in his September 2009 lawsuit, says that in 2006 the county's commissioners "radically altered" the petition-drive procedure, making the process "extremely difficult, if not impossible."[1]
External links
References
| |||||||||||||
