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If you're a prolific petition signer, don’t be surprised if you receive a letter from the Orange County Supervisor of Elections asking about the petitions you signed to put amendments on the November 2026 ballot. Is that your signature on this petition? Did you really mean to sign it? Do you want to change your mind?
According to the new Florida law HB 1205 (aka Initiative Petitions for Constitutional Amendments), passed on May 2 and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that same day, supervisors of elections (SOE) are now required to mail out letters to every person who signed a petition for a ballot measure — say for legalizing recreational marijuana— to inform them that a petition with their signature was received by their office, confirm that voters intended to sign it and provide an opportunity to revoke the signature. (The law does not require SOE to contact signers whose petitions were rejected, however.)
The Orange County Supervisor of Elections office is still fine-tuning the letters to be mailed out, Supervisor of Elections Karen Castor Dentel told VoxPopuli in a brief interview Wednesday. Voters can expect to receive letters in mid-November. If their signatures are fine, simply ignore the letters, Castor Dentel said.
“There is nothing for you to do. You don’t have to respond,” she said. “People have asked me if their signature was verified on a petition and they get this letter, if they don't send it in or if everything was okay, will their petition still count? And it will. They'll still count the petition … But just in case this [signature] isn’t yours, you have a second chance to deny it.”
Under the new law, voters who believe the signature is not theirs or who simply change their minds, can check one of two boxes on the letter, indicating the signature is misrepresented or fraudulent or that they wish to revoke their support for an issue. Those letters will then be mailed to the Office of Election Crimes and Security, which will conduct a preliminary investigation and if necessary report findings to the statewide prosecutor or appropriate state attorney for prosecution.
Still, Castor Dentel worries that even though the letters will contain the title of the petition signed, the added layer of bureaucracy may lead to voter confusion and mistrust.
“Many voters may not expect to receive a governmental letter asking whether they really signed something they know they signed, which could make them question the legitimacy of of the petition or even worry that they did something wrong,” she said. “Others might mistake the letter for a scam or think they need to take action when they don’t.
“Hopefully people will remember signing," she continued, "and they’ll go Yes! I did that!, and this won’t create many letters going on to Tallahassee [to the Office of Election Crimes and Security].”
