WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — For the past 14 years, Florida has required at least 60% of voters to approve of ballot measures to change the constitution.
Most states require a simple majority. And when it comes to the issues of easing abortion restrictions and legalizing marijuana, a lot of states' amendment measures got more than 50% but few got 60%. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, voters in six states approved measures that would loosen abortion restrictions.
Notice how if these states had Florida's super majority or 60% rule, these measures would not pass in four of those states.
Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have voted on proposals to legalize marijuana for recreational use.
Of the 13 states that passed the measures to legalize pot for recreational use, 10 fell short of the 60% threshold including the reliably blue states of California, Oregon and Massachusetts.
With those numbers in mind, do these ballot measures on marijuana and abortion face an uphill battle?
"Really its going to be about the framing," Daniel Smith, a University of Florida political science professor who specializes in ballot initiatives, said. "We already see that Gov. (Ron) DeSantis is framing these two measures as extreme. And what is going to be incumbent on the supporters of both measures is to counter that."
Smith adds getting 60% of voters to support a ballot initiative is a challenge even if it seems like most of the public supports the issue.
"It's a high threshold. We are changing the State Constitution and many would argue that it would make sense that we would have a super majority," Smith said. "But it's no piece of cake, that's for sure."
Public opinion on ballot initiatives can change quickly.
In 2014, a plan to legalize medical marijuana in Florida received 57% of the vote and failed. Two years later, medical marijuana was legalized after 71% of voters said yes.
Smith notes it is ironic that in 2006, Florida voters raised the threshold for a ballot measure from 50% to 60% in 2006, as the vote passed with 58% of the vote.
