MIAMI — With Election Day just weeks away, many voters in Florida and across the U.S. will soon be heading to the polls. Here are some key things to know before voting, including what’s on the ballot and what a sample ballot looks like in the 2024 election.
Who’s on the ballot in Florida for the 2024 election?
Aside from the presidential election, there are important statewide races Floridians need to consider. Florida voters will elect 28 U.S. representatives, of which 26 are up for reelection, and one of two U.S. senators is facing challengers this November.
U.S. Senate race
- Rick Scott, Republican Party candidate for U.S. Senate: Scott is an attorney, businessman and politician who has served as a U.S. senator from Florida since 2019. Before joining the Senate, he served as the 45th governor of Florida from 2011 to 2019. His platform, “Rescue America,” is a 12-point plan designed to “protect” Florida and the U.S. against what he described as “woke” policies from left-wing politicians. The plan was rewritten in February 2023 after several Democrats, including President Biden, repeatedly invoked it to accuse him and Republicans of looking to cut Medicare and Social Security.
- Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Democratic Party candidate for U.S. Senate: Mucarsel-Powell is a politician and academic administrator who served as a U.S. representative for Florida’s 26th congressional district from 2019 to 2021, which covered the southern part of Miami-Dade County, including the City of Homestead and the Florida Keys. In her 2020 reelection bid, she was defeated by then-Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez. Her platform focuses on reducing high costs and inflation, protecting Social Security and Medicare, lowering healthcare costs, protecting clean water and the environment, community safety, prioritizing national security and democracy, and protecting a woman’s rights to healthcare and abortion.
- Feena Bonoan, Libertarian Party candidate for U.S. Senate: Bonoan is a U.S. Navy veteran and an artist, writer and filmmaker. As an advocate for fiscal conservatism and social liberalism, her platform focuses on reducing government, empowering small business and promoting criminal justice reform.
- Ben Everidge, Unaffiliated candidate for U.S. Senate: Everidge is a former congressional staff member who worked for Rep. Bill Nelson and Sen. Lawton Chiles, according to his website. He has also worked in the private sector as a charity fundraiser. His platform focuses on better-paying jobs, affordable healthcare, safer neighborhoods and quality education.
- Tuan “TQ” Nguyen, Unaffiliated candidate for U.S. Senate: Nguyen is an electrical engineer and human rights advocate. His platform is focused on immigration reform, border security, strengthening U.S. foreign policy, investing in education and healthcare reform.
Florida Supreme Court
Florida voters will decide this year whether two newly appointed justices on Florida’s Supreme Court will keep their seats. Renatha Francis and Meredith Sasso are both on the ballot in a retention election, which asks voters whether the judges should remain in office for another term.
Newly appointed judges serve for at least one year before they appear in a yes-no retention election held during the next general election. The judges don’t have opponents on the ballot but could be removed from their positions if a certain percentage of voters say they should not be retained. If they are retained, the judges will serve six-year terms.
Florida’s Supreme Court is made up of seven justices who are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission, whose members are mostly selected by the governor.
What Florida ballot amendments are up for a vote in 2024?
Florida voters are considering six ballot measures this election. The two that have drawn the most attention are Amendments 3 and 4, which will decide marijuana legalization and abortion rights in the state.
Florida Amendment 1: Partisan school board elections
Amendment 1 proposes amending the Florida constitution to require school district board members to be elected in a partisan election rather than in a nonpartisan vote. If the amendment passes, it will only apply to elections held on or after the November 2026 general election. However, partisan primaries may happen before the 2026 general election to nominate political party candidates to that office to be placed on the 2026 general election ballot.
Those in favor of Amendment 1 argue that school board elections are no longer nonpartisan and that political parties do engage in these elections, even if it’s not entirely obvious.
State Sen. Joe Gruters, who sponsored the amendment, said during a discussion on the Florida Senate floor in April last year that the measure was a way to move toward “full transparency elections.”
“Parties engage in these races. There’s no such thing as a nonpartisan race anymore,” he said. “These races are partisan, and the only ones that aren’t informed are being tricked. And what happens is there are games that are played all the time in these races. And what I’m trying to do is pull the bag off of the voters’ heads.”
State Rep. Spencer Roach, who also sponsored the amendment, said during a Florida House panel discussion in February 2023 that lawmakers have “an obligation to provide voters with as much information as possible about candidates to include party affiliation.”
Those who oppose the amendment argue that it is not about election transparency but instead further politicizes education. In that same Florida House panel discussion in February 2023, State Rep. Angie Nixon called for “freedom away from party politics” when it came to school boards.
“This bill is about making our school-board elections and our school boards more contentious, more like D.C.,” she said.
State Sen. Bobby Powell said Florida would be in the minority if it made school board races partisan.
“If you look nationwide, most school board races and school boards remain nonpartisan,” he said. “I am hopeful that what happens with regard to partisan politics does not bleed into our school board races.”
Florida Amendment 2: Right to hunt and fish
Amendment 2 proposes amending the state constitution to preserve forever fishing and hunting, including the use of traditional methods as a public right and preferred means of responsibly managing and controlling fish and wildlife. It also specifies that it does not limit the authority granted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) under Section 9 of Article IV of the state constitution.
Proponents of the amendment argue that it will preserve Florida’s identity as “the Fishing Capital of the World” by protecting the state’s sportfishing industry and protecting individuals’ personal rights to hunt and fish as a means to provide for themselves and their families.
Opponents argue that the amendment is “ill-advised” because the right to hunt and fish already exists in Florida Statutes. They argue the amendment will “embolden” hunters and anglers and lead to overfishing and overhunting.
Florida Amendment 3: Marijuana legalization initiative
Amendment 3 proposes the legalization of recreational marijuana use for adults who are 21 and older and allows them to possess up to three ounces of marijuana.
According to a May 2024 CBS News/YouGov survey, 56% of likely voters would vote “yes” on Amendment 3, while 30% would vote “no” and the remaining 14% remained undecided.
Proponents of the amendment argue that the marijuana industry is “sustainable and growing,” bringing in tens of thousands of jobs to Florida’s economy in 2020 and expected to bring in $4.06 billion in tax revenue in 2025. They also say it would save taxpayers money by not having to pay to prosecute possession crimes.
Additionally, proponents argue that marijuana’s legalization for adult use will put “accountability, transparency and regulations in place to ensure products are not laced with or contain potentially deadly chemicals.”
Though some Republicans are against the measure, former President Donald Trump, who is a Florida resident, said he will vote in support of Amendment 3. In a post on Truth Social, Trump also said if he is reelected president, he will “continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug and work with Congress to pass common-sense laws,” including safe banking for state-authorized companies.
However, opponents of the amendment, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, argue that it will help Florida’s “monopoly” of licensed medical marijuana companies to sell recreational pot, and lead to unregulated drug use, make driving under the influence more dangerous, hurt youth and increase crime.
Another strong opponent of the measure is Sen. Rick Scott, who said he will be voting against Amendment 3 because of his brother’s long history of addiction. He said his brother Roger Scott, who died in April, began smoking marijuana as a teenager and struggled with substance abuse the rest of his life.
Donna Shalala, the former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, argued in a Miami Herald op-ed in September that Amendment 3 would create a “new addiction-for-profit industry” in Florida and made parallels with actions made by the tobacco industry.
“Big Tobacco wants to trick the American public again by pushing for marijuana legalization,” she said. “Even those who support marijuana should vote no on the poorly written Amendment 3.”
Florida Amendment 4: Right to abortion initiative
Amendment 4 proposes limiting the state government’s interference with abortion by adding the following language to the Florida Constitution’s Declaration of Rights: “… no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”
The measure would also maintain the current constitutional provision that permits a law requiring parents to be notified before a minor can receive an abortion.
A May 2024 CBS News/YouGov poll found a lot of support in Florida for abortion access, including the majority view that the current six-week ban is too strict (56%). Women were even more likely than men to say so. Also, most Florida voters wanted abortion to be legal in most cases and overwhelmingly in at least some cases (65%).
In a New York Times and Siena College poll published earlier this month, 46% of likely voters said they would vote “yes” on the amendment, while 38% said they would vote “no” and 16% said they didn’t know or refused to answer.
Those in favor of Amendment 4 argue that the measure will help put reproductive healthcare back in the hands of Florida patients and their doctors, saying that politicians should not be allowed to interfere with personal healthcare decisions or prevent medical professionals from treating patients.
Anna Hockhammer, the executive director of the Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, argued that Amendment 4 doesn’t infringe on parents’ rights and gives more power to parents/legal guardians because it restores the decision-making on reproductive healthcare to the patients, their families and their doctors.
“Amendment 4 does nothing to preclude the state from regulating medical services the way that it does with every other procedure,” she said. “You don’t go to a dentist to get open heart surgery, and your massage therapist isn’t your dermatologist. Nothing in Amendment 4 precludes the state from making sure that competent, trained doctors and other health care professionals are the ones who can provide abortion access.”
Many opponents of Amendment 4, including DeSantis, argue that the language of the measure is “too extreme” and vague with its definition of “viability,” saying that the measure would allow late-term abortions and endanger pregnant patients.
“The sponsor has gone so far attempting to deceive Floridians as to not post any information on its website on what it means by viability and when the right to abortion, which it is attempting to enshrine in our Constitution, ends,” said Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. “While I personally would not vote for this initiative no matter what definition of ‘viability’ it was using, I know that to some voters, it is material to their vote – whether you are talking about an abortion in the first trimester or at the end of the second trimester.”
Florida Amendment 5: Annual inflation adjustment for homestead property tax exemption value
Amendment 5 proposes adding a measure to the state constitution to require an annual inflation adjustment to the amount of assessed value that is exempted from property taxation on current and future homestead exemptions. In other words, the amount you deduct from your taxes would go up by the rate of inflation and apply solely to taxes other than school district levies.
If it passes, the amendment would help homeowners strapped by high taxes, but some municipalities complain it would reduce the amount of state money used to pay for important civil services such as fire, police and sanitation departments.
Florida Amendment 6: Repeal of public financing for statewide campaigns
Amendment 6 proposes the repeal of the provision in the state constitution that requires public financing for campaigns of candidates for elective statewide offices who agree to campaign spending limits.
Those who favor the amendment, such as its sponsor State Sen. Travis Huston, argue that the measure would prevent candidates from using general revenue funds to help run their campaigns and instead put taxpayers’ money into civil services.
“I think it’s absurd that anybody would be able to use taxpayer dollars for the purposes of campaigning,” he told the Florida Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections in January. “So those are dollars we could spend on things like education, things like healthcare, water projects, beach restoration, all of that stuff.”
However, opponents of the amendment argue that it would only allow affluent and well-connected candidates to run for office since they’re more likely able to use their resources to fund their campaigns than those who run grassroots efforts.
“The intention is, if you are running against an incumbent or someone of greater means, that you can leverage your small dollar support and maximize that by receiving public funds,” said State Rep. Anna Eskamani. “Public money levels the political playing field.”
Sample Florida ballot
Before you head to the polls or cast your ballot for mail-in voting, you may want to see how the ticket is set up for Florida elections.
Below is a sample general election ballot for a registered voter who lives in Broward County. Ballots vary by county.
