Florida’s abortion rights ballot measure fails to pass majority threshold

A Florida ballot initiative to strengthen abortion rights has failed to get the necessary votes, according to the Associated Press. Like the results of the 2024 election, votes late Tuesday show that the state’s six-week abortion ban that began in May—one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country—will remain in place.

Florida’s ballot measure was a proposed amendment to the Florida constitution and required 60% of the vote to be approved. It was defeated because it failed to protect that officer. According to calculations from New York Timesthe measure fell short of passing, as 57% of voters supported it. At the time of writing, 94% of the votes have been counted.

Former president Donald Trump previously said he would vote no on the Florida Bill of Rights amendment but declined to answer a reporter’s question Tuesday about how he actually voted.

Democrats were hoping that the pro-abortion agenda would increase the number of voters for Vice President Kamala Harris. Florida, however, has already been called by Trump.

Voters have embraced abortion rights since the fall Roe

With the measure’s defeat, Florida becomes the first state to reject an abortion rights ballot measure since then Roe v. Wade it was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2022. Including Florida, abortion rights were on the ballot in 10 states during the 2024 election. According to Ballotpedia, that’s the most in any election cycle since at least 1970.

A proposal to legalize recreational weed also failed

Likewise, another proposed amendment, this one to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in the state of Florida, was also defeated, failing to receive 60% of the vote. Four more states had legal marijuana measures on the ballot this year, according to Ballotpedia.

Both proposed amendments received more than 50% of the vote, but a 2006 constitutional amendment changed the voter approval threshold to 60%.