Florida rejects try to legalize use of leisure weed that was backed by Donald Trump

Voters in the state of Florida have rejected motions to create a constitutional right to abortion and to legalise recreational marijuana in a conservative seen as a double win for Republican governor Ron DeSantis.

Florida’s 30 electoral votes unsurprisingly went in favour of Donald Trump in today’s presidential election, but Floridians supported their Republican governor in his opposition to Amendment 3, which proposed the legalisation of recreational use and in-state manufacturing of marijuana.

Trump said earlier this year he would support legalising recreational pot in the state provided it would come with ‘smart regulations’.  

State law currently permits the use of cannabis for medical purposes if signed off on by a doctor after Florida voters expanded rights with a vote in 2016.

For the foreseeable future, however, recreational use of the drug will remain illegal in Florida after a constitutional amendment proposed on the ballot failed to reach the 60 per cent threshold of positive votes required to pass.

‘It would be everywhere. The state would smell like it. We don’t need that in Florida,’ DeSantis said of the drug during his campaign against it.

Florida also rejected a planned measure that would have overturned the state’s ban on abortion after six weeks and allowed the procedure until fetal viability at 24 weeks.

The measure, Amendment 4, failed to clear the required 60 per cent voter approval threshold – higher than in other states – marking a hard blow for abortion rights advocates.

It also signifies the first ballot measure victory for abortion opponents in any state since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

That decision ended the nationwide right to abortion and opened the door to bans in most Republican-controlled states, protections in Democrat-dominated ones – and ignited new political and legal battles across the country.

Abortion rights proved a central issue in the run-up to today’s elections, according to AP VoteCast which conducted a sweeping survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide.

About a quarter of respondents cited abortion policy as the single most important factor for their vote, and close to half said it was an important factor.

Florida was one of ten states with abortion referendums on the ballot Tuesday, almost all of which were aimed at safeguarding the right to the procedure or reversing restrictions adopted since the overturning of Roe v Wade.

DeSantis, a Republican with a national profile, had steered state Republican funds against the abortion cause – part of a ballot initiative held alongside the presidential election. 

The DeSantis administration launched a campaign decrying Amendment 4, questioning people who signed petitions to add it to the ballot and delivering threats to TV stations that aired one commercial supporting it.

The legislation’s defeat marks a permanent shift in the Southern abortion landscape that began when the state’s six-week ban took effect in May, and removed Florida as a destination for abortion for many women from nearby states with deeper bans.

The nearest states with looser restrictions are North Carolina and Virginia – hundreds of miles away.

The bans on abortion are also part of a key argument in the presidential race.

Vice President Kamala Harris calls them ‘Trump abortion bans,’ noting former President Donald Trump’s role in overturning Roe v. Wade.

Harris, meanwhile, has portrayed herself as a direct, consistent advocate for reproductive health and rights, including Black maternal health.

Trump has struggled to thread a divide between his own base of anti-abortion supporters and the majority of Americans who support abortion rights, leaning on his catch-all response that abortion rights should be left up to individual states.

His shifting stances on reproductive rights include vowing in October to veto a national abortion ban, just weeks after the presidential debate when he repeatedly declined to state his position on the issue.

After voting in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday, Trump was asked twice how he voted on the abortion measure there – and didn’t answer directly.

The first time he said he did ‘a great job bringing it back to the states.’ The second time, he snapped at a reporter, saying ‘you should stop talking about that.’

Currently, 13 states are enforcing abortion bans at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions.

Four more bar abortion in most cases after about six weeks of pregnancy – before women often realise they’re pregnant.

Despite the bans, the number of monthly abortions in the US has risen slightly, because of the growing use of abortion pills and organised efforts to help women travel for abortion.

Still, advocates say the blanket bans have reduced access, especially for lower-income and minority residents of the states with bans.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the national anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America, said in a statement that the result is ‘a momentous victory for life in Florida and for our entire country,’ praising DeSantis for leading the charge against the measure.

Ten states had abortion-related measures on Tuesday’s ballot.

Arizona, a battleground in the presidential election, bans abortion after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy.

The ballot measure there gained momentum after a state Supreme Court ruling in April found that the state could enforce a strict abortion ban adopted in 1864.

Some GOP lawmakers joined with Democrats to repeal the law before it could be enforced.

In Democratic-controlled Colorado and Maryland, the ballot measures would largely put existing policies into the state constitutions, though Colorado’s version could also remove financial barriers to abortion. It would take 55% of the vote to pass there.

Measures maintaining abortion access are also on the ballot in Montana, where a US Senate race could help determine control of the chamber, and Nevada, a battleground in the presidential election.

In Nevada, where control of the state government is divided, the ballot measure would have to be passed this year and again in 2026 to take effect.

New York also has a measure on the ballot that its supporters say would bolster abortion rights.

It doesn’t contain the word ‘abortion’ but rather bans discrimination on the basis of ‘pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.’

Though many states held votes for constitutional amendments on a range of hot-button issues, the presidential race is unquestionably the biggest ticket in town.

Donald Trump appeared to take an early lead over his presidential rival Kamala Harris as polls closed across US states at 2am GMT (9pm ET).

The Republican candidate inched ahead in the early hours of the race, with predicted wins in solidly red states including Florida, Texas and Alabama outnumbering Ms Harris’ wins in Democrat strongholds including New York and Illinois.

There have been no major surprises in the election so far, but crucial battleground states including Georgia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina are yet to be called, and could tip the balance in the contest to be the next US president.

The neck-and-neck race will have a sweeping impact on global politics, including in the UK where Sir Keir Starmer’s Government may have to grapple with upheaval in America’s security and defence approach if Trump wins.

Seven states are considered so-called swing states in this year’s election, with Nevada, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin also among them.

If the results of voting follow predictions by the Associated Press, Trump will have gained 177 votes in the electoral college, and Harris 99 with the current states which have been called.

Under the US voting system, a total of 270 votes in the college are needed to win the presidency