Supreme Court gets primary elections proposal

TALLAHASSEE – A proposed constitutional amendment that would revamp Florida’s primaryelections process has been formally sent to the state Supreme Court for review of the ballot wording.

Attorney General Ashley Moody late Friday sent the measure to the Supreme Court and appeared to signal that she would not contest the wording.

The proposal, which supporters hope to place on the November 2020 ballot, would allow all registered voters to cast ballots in primaries, regardless of political affiliation. The two candidates getting the most votes in each primary would advance to the general election.

Florida currently has a “closed” primary system, which limits primaries to voters registered with parties.

The Supreme Court reviews proposed constitutional amendments to make sure ballot wording is not misleading and meets other legal requirements.

In a letter formally sending the primary-elections proposal to justices, Moody did not raise any objections to the wording.

That was a marked contrast from Moody’s approach to another proposed constitutional amendment that seeks to ban assault weapons. Moody also sent that proposal to the Supreme Court on Friday and offered arguments about why she thinks justices should block it from going on the ballot.

Along with needing Supreme Court approval of the ballot wording, backers of proposed constitutional amendments also need to submit at least 766,200 valid petition signatures. As of Monday evening, 395,924 valid signatures had been sent to the state for the primary-elections proposal.

AP A proposal for the 2020 ballot would change the way primary elections are held in Florida, allowing people to vote for any candidate, regardless of party affiliation.