On March 28, the Florida House Judiciary Committee passed PCB JDC 19-01, which would make it illegal for out-of-state circulators to work on Florida initiatives. It would also ban paying circulators on a per-signature basis. See this story. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news. The sponsor is Representative James Grant (R-Tampa).
Gerrymander OLIGARCH TYRANTS at work.
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PR and AppV
I have heard that they intend to apply this to petitions currently in circulation for this election. If so, isn’t that unconstitutional, because it would be done after the fact?
This entire bill should be ruled unconstitutional, because it infringes on the rights to free speech and to petition government.
@Andy,
What right do you have to petition the government of Florida?
The bill would not affect the validity of any petition gathered prior to the effective date of the bill.
Jim, as an American citizen, I have the right to travel around the USA, and I do not give up my 1st amendment rights when I enter other states. Also, what is relevant to the petition is not the person circulating it, it is the people signing it. The petition signers are the ones that should be Florida voters. Where the petition circulator is from is irrelevant, and the courts have already ruled this way on multiple occasions.
Changing the rules for a petition drive that is already in progress should be illegal. That would be like changing the rules of a sports game that is in progress.
Should news reporters who report on Florida politics have to be Florida residents in order to do so? Should only Florida based TV and radio stations, newspapers and magazines, and websites, be the only ones allowed to cover Florida politics?
How many petitions for BALLOT ACCESS on BALLOTS in 1789-1791 ???
About ZERO ??? NO official ballots ???
NO nominating petitions for State/local offices ???
1st Amdt petitions were based on the stuff in 1761-1776 re American colony petitions about Brit regime machinations —
Brit 1765 Stamp Act, Brit 1773 Tea Act, etc.
Brit TYRANT SUPPRESSION attempts via *seditious libel* prosecutions — related to speech and press prosecutions.
Classic case of the SCOTUS HACKS being legislators via a perversion of one part of the USA Const.