petitions

April 24, 2008 – People cannot take back their support once they sign petitions to get citizen initiatives on a ballot, an appeals court ruled Wednesday in a case over whether voters should have a say in changing infrastructure and development plans.

The 1st District Court of Appeal said a law that lets voters revoke their signatures is unconstitutional, so it overturned a trial court’s ruling.

The Legislature passed the law at the request of business organizations. They then used it to revoke 13,182 signatures obtained by proponents of Hometown Democracy, an initiative that would require voter approval of changes in plans laying out where new roads, homes, businesses and other development can be built. Hometown Democracy sued even before that campaign began.

The appeals court’s seven-page ruling said revoking signatures burdens the initiative process with requirements not found in the Florida Constitution. Instead, the constitution gives citizens the right to propose amendments without legislative assistance.

The law is one of several steps the Legislature has taken in recent years with encouragement from business leaders to make it more difficult to pass initiatives. They contend initiatives such as Hometown Democracy could slow growth and the harm the state’s economy.

The issue may wind up being resolved by the Florida Supreme Court.