Florida voters rejected poll measures Tuesday to guard abortion rights and legalize marijuana, handing victories to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who used state assets and campaigned closely to defeat the problems.
The abortion measure would have prevented lawmakers from passing any legislation that penalized, prohibited, delayed, or restricts abortion till fetal viability, which medical doctors say is someday after 21 weeks. The state’s restrictive six-week abortion legislation nonetheless stands. Florida is without doubt one of the first states to reject abortion rights in a poll measure since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
The marijuana measure would have allowed individuals 21 years outdated and older to own about 3 ounces of marijuana, and it might have allowed companies already rising and promoting medical marijuana to promote it to them. This vote got here at a time when federal officers are shifting to reclassify marijuana as a much less harmful drug.
The poll measures wanted approval from at the very least 60% of voters. In different states, abortion rights helped drive turnout and have been a number one situation that allowed Democrats to retain a number of Senate seats in 2022.
DeSantis and different state leaders spent months campaigning towards the measures. Democrats closely campaigned in assist of each points, hoping to encourage occasion supporters to the polls. Republican have a 1 million-voter registration edge over Democrats.
Amongst DeSantis’ arguments towards the marijuana initiative is that it might have harm the state’s tourism due to a weed stench within the air. However different Republican leaders, together with Florida resident Donald Trump and former state GOP Chairman Sen. Joe Gruters, supported legalizing leisure marijuana.
Trump went forwards and backwards on how he would vote on the state’s abortion rights initiative earlier than lastly saying he would oppose it.
