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Orlando Sentinel, October 20, 2008

Hometown Democracy headed for the ballot? Not so fast.

Over the weekend, backers of the constitutional proposal business groups love to hate -- Florida Hometown Democracy -- put out some odd statements claiming they'd collected enough signatures to make the 2010 general election ballot.

The proposal, which would put more development decisions to local popular votes, "passed the thresholds necessary to be qualified for the 2010 state ballot," said John Hedrick, a Sierra Florida backer of the amendment noted Sunday night, adding "We call upon the Division of Elections to abide by state law and immediately certify (Hometown) for the 2010 ballot without further delay or the need for additional litigation."

If this were 2006, they might be right. But Florida's requirement for citizen-petitions to make the ballot requires collecting enough signatures to equal 8 percent of the turnout in the most recent presidential contest.

Florida's election officials have determined the most recent presidential election -- as far as the 2010 ballot is concerned -- means next month's contest, not the 2004 election, which set the bar for petition groups at 611,009 signatures.

That understandably causes heartburn for Hometown backers. They have just over 611,000 signatures now verified by the state. But Florida now has 11.24 million voters, and turnout in next month's highly-anticipated presidential face-off could reach 85 percent. That would raise the bar for making the 2010 ballot to more than 761,000 valid signatures.

"They are embarrassing themselves," said Ryan Houck, executive director for business-lobby backed Floridians for Smarter Growth.

"They've crossed the 50-yard line and decided to call it a touchdown."