By Steven C. Fraser, Esq. | FL Bar No. 625825 | DC Bar No. 460026
When Florida voters mark their ballots on November 3, a majority will not be enough to change the state constitution. A proposed amendment needs at least 60 percent of the votes cast on it. Fewer voters know that the 60 percent rule was itself adopted with less than 60 percent.
A rule adopted by the rule it replaced
In the 2005 session, the Legislature passed HJR 1723, a joint resolution proposing to amend Article XI, Section 5 of the Florida Constitution. Its ballot title was "Requiring Broader Public Support for Constitutional Amendments or Revisions." The ballot summary told voters that any amendment or revision, "whether proposed by the Legislature, by initiative, or by any other method," would need 60 percent of the voters voting on the measure, "rather than by a simple majority."
The Division of Elections' official results for the November 7, 2006 general election show the measure passed with 2,600,969 votes for and 1,900,359 against, or 57.8 percent. A simple majority adopted it, because a simple majority was the rule that day. The new threshold became Article XI, Section 5(e), and the history note to that section reads, "Am. H.J.R. 1723, 2005; adopted 2006."
That is less ironic than it sounds. Every change to the rules of change has to be made under the old rules.
Section 5(e) opens with a qualifier: "Unless otherwise specifically provided for elsewhere in this constitution." The main exception is Article XI, Section 7, adopted by initiative in 1996, which requires two-thirds of the voters voting in the election to approve any amendment imposing a new state tax or fee. The 2006 ballot summary told voters that requirement would not change.
How has 60 percent worked in practice? A 2021 House staff analysis, prepared for a proposal to raise the threshold to two-thirds, reported that from 2006 through 2020 voters had decided 50 proposed amendments, approving 31 and rejecting 19. Section 5(e) still reads 60 percent.
Five doors into Article XI
The 60 percent rule governs the last step. Article XI provides five ways to reach it.
The Legislature (Section 1). A joint resolution agreed to by three-fifths of the membership of each house. The Governor plays no role. The full text and each member's vote must be entered on the journal of each house.
The Constitution Revision Commission (Section 2). A 37-member commission established within 30 days before the 2017 regular session "and each twentieth year thereafter," which places the next one in 2037. The Attorney General sits on it, and the Governor, the legislative leaders, and the Chief Justice appoint the rest.
The citizen initiative (Section 3). A petition signed by electors equal to eight percent of the votes cast in the last presidential election, both statewide and in at least half of the congressional districts. An initiative must "embrace but one subject," except for measures limiting the government's power to raise revenue. Under Article IV, Section 10, the Attorney General asks the Florida Supreme Court for an opinion on the initiative's validity, which the justices must render by April 1 of the election year. Section 5(b) requires the petition to be filed by February 1 of that year.
The constitutional convention (Section 4). A petition signed by 15 percent of the same base places a single question on the ballot: "Shall a constitutional convention be held?" If a majority says yes, delegates are elected from each representative district at the next general election, and the convention files any revision no later than 90 days before the general election after that.
The Taxation and Budget Reform Commission (Section 6). Established "beginning in 2007 and each twentieth year thereafter," which places the next one in 2027. It may propose revisions dealing with taxation or the budget process, and a proposal requires a two-thirds vote of the full commission. Its 2008 proposals appear in the history note to Article VII, Section 4, the same property tax section Amendment 3 would amend.
Whatever the door, Section 5(a) sends the proposal to the next general election held more than 90 days after it is filed with the custodian of state records, and Section 5(d) requires publication in a newspaper in each county in the tenth and sixth weeks before the election.
The words on the ballot
Voters do not read the full text in the booth. They read a title and a summary, which section 101.161 of the Florida Statutes governs.
For most measures, subsection (1) requires a ballot summary "printed in clear and unambiguous language," an explanatory statement of the chief purpose of no more than 75 words, under a title of no more than 15 words.
Joint resolutions have their own rules in subsection (3). A joint resolution may include one or more ballot statements, each a title and a summary, ranked in order of priority. Each summary must describe the chief purpose "in clear and unambiguous language," and the first may not exceed 75 words.
Subsection (3)(c) then sets a tight schedule for challenges:
- A suit claiming a ballot statement is defective must be filed within 30 days after the joint resolution is filed with the Secretary of State, and it must assert every ground. Any ground not raised in that window is waived.
- The courts, including appellate courts, must give the case priority over other pending cases.
- If the court finds every ballot statement defective, and further appeals are declined, abandoned, or exhausted, then, unless the joint resolution provides otherwise, the Attorney General has 10 days to prepare and submit a revised title or summary "that corrects the deficiencies identified by the court." The revised summary may exceed 75 words.
- The court retains jurisdiction, and any challenge to the revision must be filed within 10 days after it is submitted.
The statute does not send a defective legislative proposal back to the Legislature, and it does not remove the measure from the ballot. It assigns the rewrite to the Attorney General, on a clock, under the supervision of the court that found the defect.
Amendment 3 as the current example
This year's Amendment 3 shows the mechanism at work. The Legislature filed CS/HJR 1F with the Secretary of State on June 16, 2026, with a single ballot statement titled "Save Our Homes From Excessive Property Taxes." Its summary opened, "This amendment benefits Florida taxpayers by:" and followed with headings such as "Protecting small businesses" and "Ensuring fairness for Florida residents."
A court found that statement defective. On August 13, 2026, the Attorney General wrote to the Secretary of State that his office's notice declining further appeals had triggered his duty under section 101.161(3)(c)2., and he submitted a revised statement. The new title is "Increased Homestead Exemption; Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homestead Property Assessments." The new summary runs to roughly 200 words, which the statute permits, and is written as a series of plain declarative sentences about what the amendment does.
I take no position on the court's reasoning or on Amendment 3. The point is structural: the proposal survived, the voters will decide it, and the words they read were rewritten through a procedure the Legislature itself enacted. For homeowners who want to know what the amendment would actually do to a property tax bill, I have written a separate explainer at https://fraserlawfl.com/blog/florida-amendment-3-homestead-exemption-2026-ballot/.
What the design says
Florida's constitution is open to many proposers and guarded at two points. At the front, the ballot language must tell the voter the truth about the chief purpose of the measure, and a court can require that it be rewritten. At the back, a proposal must persuade three voters in five, not one more than half.
One can argue about whether 60 is the right number; the 2006 electorate accepted it by a margin that would not have cleared it. What I would ask of anyone reading this ballot is narrower. Read the full text, which the Division of Elections publishes, along with the summary. The summary is the doorway. The text is the house.
Sources: Fla. Const. art. IV, s. 10; art. VII, s. 4; art. XI, ss. 1 through 7 (Florida Senate, Laws: Constitution); s. 101.161, Fla. Stat. (2026); HJR 1723 (2005), enrolled text (Florida Senate); Florida Division of Elections, Official Results, November 7, 2006 General Election, Constitutional Amendments; Florida House of Representatives, Staff Analysis of HJR 61 (2021); CS/HJR 1F (2026 Special Session F), enrolled text and bill history (Florida Senate); Florida Division of Elections, Constitutional Amendments, 2026 Ballot Number 3, including the Attorney General's letter of August 13, 2026.
Steven C. Fraser is admitted in the District of Columbia (1998) and Florida (2003) and practices in bankruptcy, tax controversy, consumer protection, probate, and related litigation. This article summarizes constitutional provisions, a statute, and published state records. It is not legal advice and it takes no position on any measure on the 2026 ballot.