Amendment to overhaul Florida primaries narrowly rejected by voters

TAMPA, Fla. - Florida voters narrowly rejected a proposal that would have overhauled the state’s primary-election system.

About 57% of voters supported Amendment 3, which would have eliminated Florida’s closed primary elections in state races.

However, a constitutional amendment needs to reach a 60% threshold for approval.

ELECTION RESULTS: Florida constitutional amendments

Amendment Three would open primaries to all voters, even the 26% not registered as Democrat or Republican.

The top two vote-getters would go to the general election, meaning it could be Republican versus Republican, or Democrat versus Democrat.

Currently, only members of a given political party can vote for a candidate from that party

In all, six amendments were on the ballot in Florida this year.

FLORIDA AMENDMENTS EXPLAINED:

• Florida Amendment 1: Voter registration language
• Florida Amendment 2: Minimum wage hike
• Florida Amendment 3: Eliminating parties from primaries
• Florida Amendment 4: Amendment ratification changes
• Florida Amendment 5: Property tax benefit extension
• Florida Amendment 6: Transferring veterans’ tax breaks

The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.