Know Before You Go: A Guide to Tuesday’s Election

Miami voters will choose a new mayor, two new commissioners, and vote on four proposed charter amendments this year. Election day is Tuesday Nov. 4.   

How much do you love democracy? 

Enough to know what’s on the ballot before election day on Tuesday?

Miami voters will choose a new mayor, two new commissioners, and vote yes or no on four proposed charter amendments. Here’s a sample ballot. 

Below is a quick guide to the four charter questions on the ballot this year. For more election coverage and candidate profiles published by the Spotlight, see the links at the bottom of this story. 

And then go vote.

1. Charter Amendment Establishing a Charter Review Commission

The first referendum would require the city to convene a Charter Review Commission once every 10 years to hold public hearings and recommend proposed charter changes. The mayor, the manager and five city commissioners would each appoint one member, and the commission would have one year to deliver a final report. Members would serve without compensation, and the commission would sunset after submitting a final report. The proposed amendment was sponsored by Commissioners Ralph Rosado and Damian Pardo.

“It’s a simple idea rooted in good governance” Rosado said in an opinion piece published by the Miami Herald. “Every decade, the U.S. Census tells us who we are and how we’ve changed. It shows how our neighborhoods have grown, how our demographics have shifted and how our needs as a city have evolved. But while we regularly update our data, we rarely update the document that defines how we govern ourselves — the city charter. That needs to change.”

2. Charter Amendment to Authorize Non-Waterfront Property Sales or Leases 

The sale or lease of city-owned property is governed by the charter. Currently, the city needs voter approval to sell or lease city property valued at more than $500,000, in cases where there are less than three competitive bids for the property. The second referendum would allow the city to bypass that requirement and approve the sale or lease of non-waterfront property through a four-fifths vote of the City Commission. In the case of waterfront properties, voter approval would still be required.

The city’s five commissioners voted unanimously in July to recommend the change to voters, saying “the City Commission finds that the recommended revisions will promote efficient, transparent, and fiscally responsible management and disposition of City-owned non-waterfront property, particularly in instances where market interest is limited.”

3. Charter Amendment to Prohibit Political Gerrymandering  

After a federal court judge found that Miami had engaged in illegal gerrymandering in 2022 when it redrew the city’s voting map, the City Commission agreed to change its charter to prohibit gerrymandering and to establish a Citizens Redistricting Commission to ensure that city voting maps are fair and unbiased. The third referendum on Tuesday’s ballot would enshrine that commitment in the city’s charter.

The ACLU of Florida and a coalition of community groups, including GRACE (Grove Rights and Community Equity) had gone into federal court to challenge the city’s 2022 voting map, which split Coconut Grove between different commission districts. The Grove was reunited in one voting district (District 2) as a result of the settlement.

4. Charter Amendment to Establish Lifetime Term Limits for Elected Officials 

Miami District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo proposed this charter amendment to prevent serial politicians from holding the same elected office again, and again, and again. Currently, Miami mayors and commissioners can serve two consecutive four-year terms. After leaving office, they can sit out the next election cycle, and then run for the same position in a later election. The fourth referendum on Tuesday’s ballot would prevent this by establishing a lifetime term limit of two four-year terms. The proposal is controversial, in part because it would apply retroactively to politicians. Commissioners Joe Carollo and Christine King voted against the proposal when it came before the commission in July. Pardo and two other commissioners – Ralph Rosado and Miguel Gabela – voted to put the question to voters.

Read more about this year’s race for mayor in the Spotlight: 

Who’s running for mayor? A list of all 13 candidates.

Spotlight profiles of four leading candidates: Ken Russell, Eileen Higgins, Xavier Suarez, and Emilio Gonzalez.

Downtown Neighbors Forum: Who’s the Adult in the Room?

Arsht Center Forum: Candidates Talk Tax Relief