By Sierra Bush Rester

Florida politicians have played a two-faced, cynical game with voters for decades. To our faces, they talk about freedom, how parents are heard, and how the Floridian Way matters. But when voters, Democrats and Republicans alike, pass citizen-led constitutional amendments that threaten their grip on power, those same politicians get to work silencing us every single time.
Historically, they have not always tried to block these amendments outright. That would be too obvious, too hypocritical. Instead, they played the long con, pretending to listen, pacifying the public, and then quietly passing laws to gut the effectiveness of the people’s votes. When we voted to raise the minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour, they stretched it out so long that inflation wiped out any real impact. When we voted to restore voting rights for felons, they created a bureaucratic nightmare, forcing former felons to pay massive fees and appear before a board of bureaucrats who get to make the final decision.. When we voted to legalize medical marijuana, they let their wealthy friends profit while keeping regular people locked up for the same thing; and Last year, when 57 percent of Floridians (Republicans, Democrats, and independents/NPA alike) voted to restore reproductive freedoms (despite Florida‘s new six-week abortion band) it not only embarrassed Florida politicians but it also scared them.
So now, today, we have HB1205, a bill sponsored by the same politicians and lobbyists responsible for the abortion ban (that came so close to being overturned) are having to reconcile with how dangerously close they came to losing. Instead of doing what tax dollars are paying them to do, which is to change their policy to align with the people’s will, they are now changing policy so that the will of the people cannot get in the way of their policy. HB 1205 is not just another obstacle but an outright attack on direct democracy. Instead of gutting amendments after they pass, this bill shuts down the process entirely, barricading the ballot box before the people can speak.
Under this bill, citizen groups can only push one amendment per election cycle, meaning if an organization wants to fight for both legal marijuana and fair wages, they have to choose. Moreover, it shortens citizens’ time to collect signatures and makes it so that even a simple mistake made when storing voter information could mean citizens would face felony charges. Worst of all, they now require a one-million-dollar bond to participate, creating a pay-to-play system designed to kill citizen initiatives. Does that sound like democracy to you? Or does it sound eerily familiar to a Russian oligarch we know too well?

Because this is not about election integrity or making the process more ethical. If it were, they would fix Florida’s gerrymandered districts, but they do not want fair elections. They do not want real democracy. They want total control, and they are done pretending otherwise. HB 1205 is the final nail in the coffin: duct tape over the mouths of all Florida voters, regardless of party. This bill is not just about abortion, wages, or voting rights. It is about silencing voters before we can even make demands.
The only option left is to fight back. Refuse to be silenced. This is not a party-line issue. It is the people versus the powerful. Call your legislators, show up at hearings, flood their inboxes, and make it clear. If they do not stand up against this blatant attack on democracy, we will vote them out before they make that illegal, too.

Sierra Bush Rester is a proud , public school teacher in Leon county, a special needs parent, Tallahassee local and a lifelong learner.