2020 Florida Amendment 4

2020 Florida Amendment 4, commonly known as the Think Twice Initiative was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of Florida that failed by 52.47% to 47.53% in the 2020 election on November 3, 2020. The amendment would have required new constitutional amendments to be approved by voters twice in order to go into effect.

Amendment 4 proposed that constitutional amendments to be approved by voters at two successive general elections to become effective. Currently in Florida, if voters approve an amendment at one general election, it becomes part of the constitution.

In Florida, constitutional amendments require a 60% supermajority vote to become effective. This requirement was added to the constitution in 2006. Under Amendment 4, the supermajority requirement would apply to both elections.

Amendment 4 was placed on the ballot of Florida's 2020 elections due to the efforts of Keep Our Constitution Clean, an organization founded in 2018 with the stated purpose being to "counter misleading proposals being placed in front of voters..." The organization raised $8 Million from a nonprofit group which shares its name, Keep Our Constitution Clean, Inc., which is not required to report its contributors under state or federal regulations. The organization paid volunteers up to $18 an hour to collect signatures for the amendment, alongside bonuses based on the number of collected signatures, with potential earnings of $3,220 if a volunteer worked 40 hours a week and collected 750 signatures which is far greater pay than petition organizations.

The organization is run by Jason H. Haber, a Fort Lauderdale attorney and chairman of the Republicans Against Green Energy PAC.

The 2020 Florida Amendment 4 (which is separate from the 2018 Amendment 4 to restore felon voting rights currently being reviewed by the courts), was a proposed amendment that would have required all future constitutional amendments to be approved in elections twice. Had it passed, the likely outcome of this change would have been fewer amendments proposed and fewer amendments approved. Constitutional amendments need to gather 60% in each voting to be approved.

Florida's current standard of a 60% approval for amendments is much higher than the threshold needed in most states. If Florida Amendment 4 passes, Florida would be joining Nevada as the only other state with this requirement, though Nevada only requires amendments to be passed twice with 50%. The president of The League of Women Voters of Florida, Patricia Brigham claims, "This would basically shut the door to citizen groups other than the wealthiest of the wealthy to get an amendment on the ballot, You make it a lot harder for citizens to have their say on issues the legislature does not address. We're non-partisan but when you have a one-party rule no matter what the party for a long, long time, then you cut off a number of voters from having a voice."

Since 1962, Nevada has had an incredibly low number of constitutional amendments, with only 14 citizen-initiated amendments passed at the first election, and 12 of those passing at the second round. The Florida amendment process would likely follow in Nevada's footsteps with these much lower numbers, should Florida Amendment 4 become law.