Constitutional Law

Fla. Voters Defeat Ballot Measure Targeting Bias In State Constitution

Floridians narrowly defeated a ballot initiative to strip a 1926 provision from the state constitution barring Asian-Americans from owning property. The ballot measure, Amendment No. 1, was defeated on Election Day apparently because of a “mix of confusion” over the measure’s wording and prejudice, The New York Times reported.

The Florida ballot measure included the words “aliens ineligible for citizenship” from the constitutional provision, which apparently lead some voters to believe the measure dealt with illegal immigrants. Steve Geller, a former Florida lawmaker, who worked to put Amendment No. 1 before voters, told the newspaper that “a lot of people thought it had to do with illegal aliens, and it had nothing to do with illegal aliens.” Other states have removed similar provisions from their constitutions. The Florida chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans told The Times that it would work to bring the ballot measure back before voters and raise money to educate them about its actual purpose – to yank bias from the Florida Constitution.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on November 06, 2008 (boomark / email).