2024-11-06 13:25:03
While the nation is anxiously awaiting election results that will tell them who will lead the United States for the next four years, Floridians will be keeping their eyes on the results of six constitutional amendments.
Florida Amendment 3 and Amendment 4, which focus on legalizing weed and protecting abortion rights, have seen the brunt of ire from the state after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration spent millions in ads opposing both measures and engaging in losing legal battles to remove them from the ballot.
DeSantis took flak in the months leading up to the election after he used taxpayer funds to pay for public service announcements attacking the measures, threatened to jail TV stations that aired a pro-Amendment 4 ad and sent law enforcement to the homes of people who signed the Amendment 4 petition.
2024 Florida election resultsSee who won and which amendments passed
So when will Florida voters get to know the fate of the six constitutional amendments? Here’s what we know.
There’s a pretty good chance that we’ll get a strong snapshot of how Florida feels about each of the six constitutional amendments on the ballot when results begin to be published at 8 p.m. ET.
Under Florida law, counties are able to begin tabulating their results as they come in, which means early voting and vote-by-mail ballot results will be available right out of the gate.
As of 2:26 p.m. on Election Day, nearly 8.3 million Florida voters had either voted early or voted by mail, which is just under 60% of Florida’s 13,845,913 registered voters.
The preliminary results reported by the state starting at 8 p.m. will be unofficial, however. Counties have until noon on Nov. 18 to send their official returns. Strong early voting numbers could help the state call the results early.
Recent polls surveying Florida residents’ support around Amendment 3 and Amendment 4 show that both are favored by the majority of voters, but teeter on the line of gaining the number of votes needed to pass.
The Florida Atlantic University Political Communication and Public Opinion Research Lab (PolCom Lab) and Mainstreet Research USA conducted two surveys between Oct. 19 and Oct. 27, reaching 1,850 Florida voters combined.
The poll found that Amendment 3, which seeks to legalize recreational pot for adults, has substantial support with 60% of voters in favor, 34% opposed and 4% undecided.
Amendment 4, which seeks to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, shows significant support, with 58% of voters in favor, 32% opposed and 10% undecided.
The poll has a 3.2% margin of error.
A University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) poll published on Oct. 21 surveyed 977 likely Florida voters between Oct. 7 and Oct. 18. The poll showed high Amendment 3 support, with 66% of voters indicating a “yes” vote, 30% saying they would vote “no” and 4% undecided.
On Amendment 4, 60% of the respondents said they would vote “yes,” 32% said they would vote “no” and 8% remained undecided.
The PORL poll has a 3.49% margin of error.
Florida constitutional amendments require a 60% supermajority to pass.
Please note: These are preliminary results as of 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The final numbers will be different as more votes are counted. These numbers were updated at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Florida Amendment 2, which sought to protect Floridians’ right to hunt and fish, passed with 67.3% of the vote.
Florida Amendment 3, which sought to legalize recreational weed for adults, failed to reach the 60% supermajority needed to pass.
Florida Amendment 4 failed to receive the necessary votes to pass.
Florida Amendment 6, which sought to repeal public financing for political campaigns, failed to pass.
With six amendments on the ballot, it can be hard to remember which is which. Here’s a quick breakdown:
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