Despite its failure to achieve a 60% supermajority at the ballot box, supporters of abortion rights said the 57% of “yes” voters on Amendment 4 show that Florida voters oppose the state’s direction on the issue.

Abortion rights advocates prevailed in ballot measures in seven states, but that doesn't resolve the issue.

Amendment 3 -- one of two amendments on the ballot put there by citizens, not lawmakers (the other being Amendment 4) -- failed Tuesday. If it had passed, recreational marijuana would be legal in Florida for adults over 21.

Amendment 4 failed Tuesday, despite the majority of Florida voters saying “yes” on the ballot. A 60% supermajority vote is required to pass an amendment and only 57% voted yes.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis used an official Coral Gables visit Monday to continue his use of taxpayer dollars to fight an abortion rights amendment.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is focusing his official office on fighting an abortion rights amendment.

Local 10 News This Week In South Florida Anchor Glenna Milberg interviews Lauren Brenzel, the campaign director of Yes on 4, which helped coordinate support to include a Florida abortion ballot initiative.

Millions of dollars in ads are trying to sway your vote on the abortion rights amendment on the November ballot.

Amendment 4 is an abortion rights question. It would remove the government’s ability to block or delay the decision to end a pregnancy before the fetus is “viable” and/or to protect the life of the mother.

Amendment 3 is one of two amendments on the ballot put there by citizens, not lawmakers (the other being Amendment 4). Its passage would make marijuana use legal for adults over 21, define the amounts, and define the business market for it.

Local 10 News This Week In South Florida Anchor Glenna Milberg interviews Cord Byrd, Florida’s secretary of state. Attorneys Rafael Yaniz, and Stephen Hunter Johnson, and Denise Galvez Turros join the Roundtable. Local 10 News Sports Director Will Manso discusses Miami-Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa’s new concussion.

Local 10 News This Week In South Florida Anchor Glenna Milberg interviews Will Manso, Local 10 News sports director, about Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa’s latest concussion.

The battle over abortion rights in Florida is heating up after recent Supreme Court decisions drastically curtailed access to abortion, activists and politicians are rallying behind Amendment 4, a measure that would enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution.

FILE - In this July 26, 2020, file photo, mourners gathered at the Alabama Capitol following the death of Rep. John Lewis. Alabama voters will decide whether to remove racist, segregation-era language from the state's 1901 Constitution in the upcoming election. (AP Photo/Julie Bennett, File)BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Alabama voters once again have the chance to remove the racist language of Jim Crow from the state's constitution, which was approved in 1901 to enshrine white supremacy as state law. Voters in neighboring Mississippi will decide on a replacement for the Confederate-themed state flag, and Rhode Island voters will decide whether to remove a reference to plantations from the state's official name. Two decades ago, Alabama voters voted to repeal an unenforceable section of the constitution that made it illegal for Black and white people to marry.

The former Democratic presidential candidate has helped raise more than $20 million so that felons who completed their prison sentences can vote in the presidential election. Bloomberg also has pledged $100 million to help Joe Biden win Florida. Working together with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, we are determined to end disenfranchisement and the discrimination that has always driven it,” Bloomberg said in a written statement. The Florida Rights Restitution Coalition had raised about $5 million before Bloomberg made calls to raise almost $17 million more, according to Bloomberg staffers. ____This version corrects the name of the group to Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Florida felons must pay all fines, restitution and legal fees before they can regain their right to vote, a federal appellate court ruled Friday in a case that could have broad implications for the November elections. Reversing a lower court judge's decision that gave Florida felons the right to vote regardless of outstanding legal obligations, the order from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was a disappointment to voting rights activists and upheld the position of Republican Gov. Under Amendment 4, which Florida voter passed overwhelmingly in 2018, felons who have completed their sentences would have voting rights restored. In addition to prison time served, lawmakers stipulated that all legal financial obligations, including unpaid fines and restitution, would also have to be settled before a felon could be eligible to vote.

The issue affects an estimated 1.4 million former convicted felons’ ability to vote in November. Neil Volz, the deputy director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, said he is worried about the partisan undertones that he believes have gotten in the way of the restoration of voting rights. It’s unclear how many ex-felons will end up registering as Democrats or Republicans since the litigation could take years. Ron DeSantis limited Amendment 4, Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) accused Florida Republicans of trying to establish a “poll tax” and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit. The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition didn’t join any of the lawsuits, but the organization has a fines and fees fund to help felons who want to register to vote.

He and GOP lawmakers say that to regain the right to vote, felons must not only serve their time but also pay all fines and other legal financial obligations. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday could be consequential because of the razor-thin margins that sometimes decide election contests in Florida — a perennial battleground state. Voting rights groups immediately sued for a temporary injunction that would let felons continue registering to vote and cast ballots until the merits of the law can be fully adjudicated. He agreed with voter rights advocates that imposing the debt requirement on impoverished felons amounted to a poll tax. Earlier this month, the Florida Supreme Court issued a non-binding advisory opinion agreeing with the Republican governor.

Voter rights groups have sued the state in federal court, but a trial is not expected until spring. Soon after the amendment’s passage, the Republican-controlled Legislature stipulated that to complete sentences, felons must pay all fines and fees before getting their voting rights restored. Voting rights groups sued in federal court immediately after DeSantis signed the GOP bill into law, likening the financial requirements to an illegal barrier for people who can’t afford to pay. To possibly bolster his case, the governor sought the advisory opinion from the state’s high court. (Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP) (Copyright The Florida Times-Union 2020)In a tweet, DeSantis said he was “pleased” with the decision.