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Politics
Appellate court affirms Feb. 1 petition deadline
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published April 4, 2007
TALLAHASSEE - A group challenging a shorter deadline for submitting citizen-initiative petitions was undecided Tuesday if it would appeal a court ruling upholding the new limit, about six months earlier than the old one. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court's decision upholding the Feb. 1 deadline in an election year. The unanimous opinion was posted on the court's Web site on Tuesday. Voters in 2004 approved a state constitutional amendment offered by the Legislature to set the new deadline. The appellate court rejected arguments the amendment's ballot language was misleading and that the state failed to meet requirements for advertising it. The challenge came from Hometown Democracy, a group established to collect signatures for a proposed amendment that would give voters a bigger voice in local planning and development. Hometown Democracy lawyer Ross Burnaman can asking the panel or full 15-member appellate court for a rehearing or certification that would send the issue to the Florida Supreme Court. Judge James R. Wolf wrote for the district court that the ballot summary told voters exactly what the new limit would be even though it failed to explain that would mean less time to collect signatures.
[Last modified April 4, 2007, 01:02:34]
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