Florida has voted against Amendment 3, a ballot initiative to replace Florida's current partisan primaries with a top-two, or jungle, primary system for state-level offices. Results are now coming in.
As of now in Florida, each party holds separate "closed" primaries, where only voters registered with a specific party can vote in that party's primary elections.
Amendment 3 would allow voters of all party affiliations, including non-affiliated voters, to vote in primaries. The primaries would feature all the candidates running for state legislature, governor, or elected cabinet positions in which all the candidates run in the same primary and the top two advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation.
Two states, California and Washington, currently use top-two primaries. Alaska also voted on a ballot initiative to enact a top-four primary system.
Florida's Amendment 3 required 60% support to pass and would have gone into effect for elections in early 2024.
The language of Amendment 3 and the accompanying fiscal impact statement as it appears on the ballot:
"Allows all registered voters to vote in primaries for state legislature, governor, and cabinet regardless of political party affiliation. All candidates for an office, including party nominated candidates, appear on the same primary ballot. Two highest vote getters advance to general election. If only two candidates qualify, no primary is held and winner is determined in general election. Candidate's party affiliation may appear on ballot as provided by law. Effective January 1, 2024."
"It is probable that the proposed amendment will result in additional local government costs to conduct elections in Florida. The Financial Impact Estimating Conference projects that the combined costs across counties will range from $5.2 million to $5.8 million for each of the first three election cycles occurring in even-numbered years after the amendment's effective date, with the costs for each of the intervening years dropping to less than $450,000. With respect to state costs for oversight, the additional costs for administering elections are expected to be minimal. Further, there are no revenues linked to voting in Florida. Since there is no impact on state costs or revenues, there will be no impact on the state's budget. While the proposed amendment will result in an increase in local expenditures, this change is expected to be below the threshold that would produce a statewide economic impact."
