Florida newspapers united in opposition to Amendment 3
October 17th, 2006 by admin
Almost every major newspaper in Florida has expressed strong opposition to Amendment 3, which would increase the number of votes needed to approve ballot initiatives from 50% to 60%.
On Sunday, Miami Herald columnist and best-selling author Carl Hiaasen described the amendment, which will appear on the Nov. 7 ballot, as “one of the most audacious and cynical attacks on the rights of Florida voters.”
Hiaasen mentioned the landmark 2002 initiative that made it illegal to confine pigs in gestation crates — cages so small they could not turn around or even lie down without difficulty — and explained, “the reason that public activists got involved is because those elected to speak for the public wouldn’t step to the plate.” The 2002 initiative was a response to an apathetic legislature, which twice ignored proposed legislation to ban one of factory farming’s worst forms of intense confinement. In 2002, volunteers gathered over 600,000 petition signatures, and the initiative passed with over 2 1/2 million votes.
Hiaasen concluded, “…any law that makes it more difficult for citizens to be heard — and easier for special interests to stack the political deck — is bad.”
For more information about Amendment 3, visit Trust The Voters.