in

Miami Can’t Delay Its Election by a Year, Judge Rules

City commissioners said the move was meant to save money and improve turnout. Critics noted that it would give some city officials an extra year in office.

Miami city commissioners violated the Florida Constitution when they voted last month to postpone this fall’s election to November 2026, a state judge ruled on Monday, saying that such a change required voter approval.

The judge, Valerie R. Manno Schurr of Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit, ruled in favor of Emilio T. González, a candidate for mayor. He sued in late June after the City Commission voted 3 to 2 to delay the election, a move it said was meant to save money and improve turnout. Critics noted that it would give elected city officials an extra year in office.

The postponement had led to public outcry from candidates who had already filed to run, and from some voters who said the process had been undemocratic.

Mayor Francis X. Suarez and one city commissioner, Joe Carollo, are supposed to leave office at the end of this year because of term limits. Mr. Carollo voted against postponing the election; Mr. Suarez signed the approved ordinance into law.

The commissioners and the mayor cannot lawfully change the date of a municipal election by ordinance, the judge wrote. Postponing the election from an odd-numbered year to an even-numbered one amounted to amending the city’s charter, which would require approval from the electorate, she ruled.

The judge cited the Miami-Dade County charter, which governs cities in the county, including Miami, under the Florida Constitution.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.


Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.


Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.


Source: Elections - nytimes.com


Tagcloud:

Farage defends protesters outside Essex asylum hotel as ‘concerned families’

Peter Mandelson enlisted help to return to Tony Blair’s government