A ballot measure in Florida to enshrine abortion rights has failed to secure the necessary votes, according to the Associated Press. As results for the 2024 election roll in, votes late Tuesday indicate that the state’s six-week abortion ban that took effect in May—one of the country’s most restrictive abortion bans—will remain in place.
The Florida ballot measure was a proposed amendment to Florida’s constitution and required a 60% vote to be approved. It was defeated because it failed to secure that supermajority. According to a count from the New York Times, the measure fell narrowly short of passing, with 57% of voters supporting it. At the time of this writing, 94% of votes have been counted.
Former president Donald Trump had previously said he would vote no to amending the Florida Constitutions Declaration of Rights but declined to answer a reporter’s question on Tuesday as to how he actually voted.
Democrats had hoped that abortion-related initiatives would increase voter turnout for Vice President Kamala Harris. Florida, however, has already been called for Trump.
Voters have embraced abortion rights since the fall of Roe
With the defeat of this measure, Florida becomes the first state to reject an abortion-rights ballot measure since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022. Including Florida, abortion rights were on the ballots in 10 states during the 2024 election. According to Ballotpedia, that’s the most in any election cycle since at least 1970.
A proposal for legal recreational weed also failed
Likewise, another proposed amendment, this one to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in the state of Florida, also was defeated, failing to secure the necessary 60% vote. Four additional states had marijuana legalization measures on the ballot this year, according to Ballotpedia.
Both proposed amendments did receive more than 50% of the vote, but a 2006 constitutional amendment changed the threshold for voter approval to 60%.
