ORLANDO, Fla. – Floridians are expected to soon find out whether or not they will be voting on recreational marijuana and expanding abortion access in November.
In recent months, the Florida Supreme Court has been reviewing the language in the proposed ballot initiatives.
According to the Florida Constitution, the justices are expected to rule by April 1.
Millions of dollars have been spent from the group proposing the recreational marijuana amendment.
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It proposes removing criminal and civil penalties for people 21 and older who use marijuana and would become Amendment 3 if allowed on the ballot. Florida voters previously legalized medical marijuana through a constitutional amendment in 2016.
The other amendment would protect abortion access up until viability, which is generally considered to be about 24 weeks into pregnancy.
Millions of dollars have also been spent trying to get it on the ballot.
If allowed it will become Florida’s Amendment 4.
It would undo Florida’s current 15-week ban and block a possible six-week ban that legislators passed last year.
Both Amendment 3 and Amendment 4 are being challenged by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who is asking the Supreme Court to remove the proposals from the ballot.
If the amendments are allowed on the ballot, each will need 60% of voter support to pass.
These are the five amendments that have made the November 2024 ballot so far, barring a rejection by the Florida Supreme Court, according to the Florida Division of Elections.
Amendment 1: Partisan election of members of district school boards
This proposed amendment by the Florida Legislature would require school board candidates to disclose a political party affiliation on the ballot. Currently, school board races are nonpartisan.
Amendment 2: Right to fish and hunt
This proposed amendment by the Florida Legislature enshrines hunting and fishing as a public right and a preferred means of managing and controlling fish and wildlife.
Amendment 3: Adult personal use of marijuana
This proposed amendment by Smart & Safe Florida is considered a citizen’s initiative to allow adults 21 or older to possess, purchase and use marjiuana for non-medical consumption.
Amendment 4: Amendment to limit government interference with abortion
This proposed amendment by Floridians Protecting Freedom, Inc. is considered a citizen’s initiative to prohibit the state from creating a law to ban, delay penalize or otherwise restrict abortions before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health.
Amendment 5: Annual adjustments to the value of certain homestead exemptions
This proposed amendment by the Florida Legislature would change the assessed value of a property that has a homestead exemption so that some part of property taxes will be annually adjusted for positive inflation growth.
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