Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a stern warning to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and city commissioners last week over a proposed ordinance to adjust the city's election dates without seeking voter approval. According to CBS News, Uthmeier's June 25 letter stated that such actions would stand in violation of the state constitution and the Miami-Dade County charter, which require such changes to be decided by public vote.
Despite the warning, Miami officials proceeded with the vote, and consequently, a lawsuit has been lodged challenging the decision. Emilio González, a candidate for the Miami mayoral office, filed a 41-page complaint, claiming the move to shift city elections from odd- to even-year terms effectively extends the current mayor and commissioners' tenure by an year, contravening the established legal framework. “The commissioners unconstitutionally bypassed the democratic will of the people in a way that the Florida Constitution, the Miami-Dade Charter, and the City’s Charter expressly prohibit,” González's lawsuit argues, as noted by Miami Herald.
The state's chief legal officer had been unequivocal in his letter, stressing that the city's reliance on past trial court decisions did not possess the authority to trump the unique constitutional status of Miami-Dade. "The State will not tolerate such an unconstitutional deviation," Uthmeier wrote, as per CBS News.
In apparent rebuttal, Miami City Attorney George Wysong has defended the election date change as proper and lawful, although the city has yet to officially comment on the lawsuit.
