The latest attempt to change Miami’s election calendar collapsed last week, but proponents of election reform say the effort isn’t dead.
The City of Miami’s election mess got messier last week when three of the city’s five commissioners failed to show up on Friday for a special meeting, tanking an effort to resolve the controversy – and confusion – over the city’s election calendar.
Miami District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo had sought the meeting so he and his fellow commissioners could ask voters to shift Miami elections to even-numbered years, when more voters go to the polls.
Friday was the last chance the city had to put the question to voters in November, but it was not to be. The special meeting was cancelled when only two commissioners – Pardo and District 4 Commissioner Ralph Rosado – showed up.
The commission also missed an opportunity that day to advance a proposal to restore the iconic Miami Marine Stadium on Virginia Key (read more here).
“We’re disappointed that two voter referendums could not be heard today due to a lack of quorum,” Pardo said in a statement shared with the Spotlight. “We remain committed to ensuring voters have the opportunity to vote on these items.”
Former District 2 Commissioner Ken Russell, who is running to become Miami’s next mayor, said the poor showing was telling.
“The fact that commissioners didn’t show up for this meeting today is just a lack of respect for the residents who are here, and it shows their true hand,” Russell told WLRN Public Media. “If they really wanted good government and even-year voting, they would have been here to put it on the ballot.”
To recap: The City Commission, at Pardo’s urging, voted in June to change the city’s election cycle, starting this year, by delaying the November 2025 election for mayor and two district commissioners by a year, to November 2026.
The decision, which would have given Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and all five sitting commissioners an extra year in office, was immediately challenged in court by Emilio Gonzalez, who is running this year to replace Suarez.
A series of judges ruled against the city in July, saying Miami could not change its election calendar without the approval of voters.
After the city’s legal appeal was rebuffed by Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal, Pardo retreated from his position by proposing a citywide vote on the question.
Now that a citywide vote is off the table – at least for now – the city could explore a further appeal, but Pardo told the Spotlight there’s “no interest” in doing so.
If the case is in fact settled, Miami voters will choose a new mayor and elect two commissioners when they go to the polls in November.
The question of when Miami should hold its elections isn’t settled, however.
Voters may get a chance to decide that question next year, if a petition drive initiated by Stronger Miami succeeds.
Joshua Kaufman, who has been collecting signatures for the drive, told WLRN that because the city failed to act, residents should take the initiative.
“We’ll be collecting (signatures) all throughout this year, and then we’re putting it on the ballot next year for the August primary,” Kaufman said. “It’s not really a question of if this is going to be on the ballot. It’s just a question of when.”
If approved by voters, Stronger Miami’s proposed reforms would increase the number of city commissioners from five to nine, move elections to even-numbered years, and prevent politicians from gerrymandering the city’s voting map to benefit themselves.
