Out of 49 states that allow amendments to be referred to voters, only 12 have a 60 percent approval threshold to pass an amendment. Florida used to have a 50 percent approval threshold, which is known as a simple majority, but a 2006 amendment would increase it to a 60 percent approval. At first glance, it isn’t that big of a jump. However, because of the 60 percent majority, Florida now goes by a supermajority, where the minority of people who disagree or agree with a bill dictate whether or not it will pass. This amendment has, recently, resulted in amendments that would have otherwise passed in other states unable to pass here in Florida.
Let’s establish some facts about simple majority and super majority. First: what are they?
According to OnBoard, a simple majority is “voting system where the “winning” option is awarded by a majority vote. For example, if the total votes cast amounts to 100, 51 votes would constitute a majority.” More or less, the option that more than 50 percent and a population want is able to be passed.
On the other hand, a supermajority has higher standards than a simple majority, often needing 60 percent to secure approval.
A real life example of both of these systems is seen in the difference between the House of Representatives and the Senate.
For a proposed bill to pass through the House, it requires at least a 2/3 majority approval to make it to the Senate. The Senate operates off of a simple majority, with 51 out of 100 votes being able to approve a bill.
Both systems have merit and a place in government, but having a supermajority for state initiatives and referendum does more harm than good.
Back in 2002, voters approved a law making it illegal to “tether or confine a pregnant pig” according to MSN. This ballot measure gave fuel to the policymakers and civilians who believed in going from a 50 percent simple majority to a 60 percent supermajority in order to prevent “unnecessary amendments” from being passed.
The majority of lawmakers who promoted this amendment were conservative, which meant they wanted a more lasse faire attitude towards policy and less government influence on the state. This in itself isn’t a bad thing, government should have restrictions on what it influences and how far it reaches. Ironically, the amendment itself passed with only 57 percent while the government still operated on a 50 percent simple majority. Besides the irony of how it was passed, there are several reasons why a simple majority doesn’t work for Florida voter referendum.
What is an initiative and referendum? Introduced during the progressive era, initiatives allow for voters to choose certain policies and amendments to be put to the state legislation for voting. Referendums are amendments or policies that are given to the electorate, aka the voting population, to vote on. These policies are important to the health of the government, as they give the people more power to pick and choose what they want to be voted on and implemented.
What does this have to do with Florida’s 60 percent initiative and referendum approval percentage?
Going back to the reasoning for the change being that people were “passing unnecessary initiatives,” if an initiative is wanted by the population, it should be able to get placed on The point of initiatives is to give the population a say in what gets voted on in future elections, and can give policymakers insight into specific issues voters are interested in.
It would make more sense to increase the approval percentage for initiatives, but referendums are a different story. Referendums are usually given directly to the people on a ballot, which means they have already passed an initiative. They are the closest way that the population can influence the government on a state level and have already passed through the loopholes to get on a ballot, so why should it be a higher threshold for passing?
This policy has knocked down several amendments that would have passed in the 37 states that have a 50 percent threshold, which include states like Mississippi and Oklahoma that have similar political leanings. In the recent election this included the less strict abortion ban and legalization of recreational marijuana, but it has made it harder in past elections to pass policies surrounding felon rights and raising the minimum wage according to Florida Politics.
Overall, we believe that we as a state take a look at how much the 60 percent amendment benefits us. While you can’t deny that there has to be some sort of discretion surrounding what gets put into our constitution and on our ballots, we also have to look at the cons and potential consequences to raising the bar. Should everyone be on board with one issue in order for it to pass? Or should we let the majority be able to implement the policies they want? Raising the bar makes it harder for bills to pass in general, which puts controversial issues and issues that get the least amount of attention at a disadvantage in the political landscape.
However, we believe a compromise is possible, such as having a smaller threshold such as 55 percent like Colorado, or introducing a process that reflects the relationship between the House and the Senate to weed out “unnecessary” polices while also allowing popular policies to be implemented. At the end of the day, politics are complicated, but it’s up to us to decide how we want our government to operate. With local, House, and Senate elections coming soon, if you want change or not make sure to pre-register to vote and make your voice as a citizen heard.
