Two Florida legislators have introduced bills to alter the law, regarding the order of candidates’ names on general election ballots. Current law says the nominees of the party that won the last gubernatorial election should be listed first. Then come the nominees of any other party that has 5% of the number of registered voters. Then, the parties with less than 5% of the number of registered voters are listed in the order in which they filed their list of nominees. Finally, independent candidates are listed last.
Senator Nan H. Rich (D-Sunrise) and Representative Keith Fitzgerald (D-Sarasota) have introduced SB 1606 and HB 415. They would require rotation for the top spot. However, only parties with 5% of the registration would be eligible for the rotation. The bills would not change anything for the parties with less than 5% of the registration, nor would they help independent candidates.