Unofficial results released for five FWB charter questions that were blocked on election night

Two weeks after election night produced only one official result out of six charter amendment questions, unofficial vote totals for the remaining five are now public.

• The Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections released the figures after Circuit Judge Stone granted a joint request from the city and the FWB Watch Group to modify the injunction that had kept the results out of election night reporting.

The unofficial results show Questions 2, 3 and 4 received majority support while Questions 5 and 6 did not. Question 6, which asked voters whether to repeal the voter-approved 3% cap on annual budget expenditure increases, failed with 687 votes in favor and 907 against, or about 43 percent support. The cap was approved by more than 60 percent of voters in November 2024.

Question 5, which would have authorized compensation for elected city officials in the form of monetary pay or health insurance coverage, also failed with 641 in favor and 954 against, or about 40 percent support.

Questions 2 through 4 each passed with between 56 and 59 percent support:

The results are unofficial. Certification of Questions 2 through 6 remains barred by court order, and whether these outcomes take effect will depend on the resolution of the Watch Group’s lawsuit over the ballot language.

How the results were released

On election night, March 10, the Supervisor of Elections released only the result for Question 1, which moved city elections to November. That measure passed with 84 percent support. Question 1 was the only question not challenged in the Watch Group’s lawsuit.

A circuit court order issued March 3 had prohibited the SOE from including results for Questions 2 through 6 in election night reporting or on the SOE website, and barred the canvassing board from certifying those results until the litigation concluded, including all appeals. The order noted, however, that the results were not confidential and remained subject to Florida’s public records law.

• On election day, March 10, the city filed a notice of appeal challenging the injunction. On March 25, the city voluntarily dismissed that appeal with the First District Court of Appeal.

That same day, the city and the Watch Group filed a joint stipulated motion asking the court to modify the injunction. Both sides agreed that allowing the results to be tabulated and released served the public interest, while continuing to prohibit certification pending further order of the court. The Supervisor of Elections did not object.

Judge Stone granted the motion, and the SOE released the unofficial results.

What remains unresolved

The results are now public, but none of the five questions can take effect. The Watch Group’s January lawsuit argues the ballot language on all five failed to meet the requirements of Florida Statute 101.161, which mandates clear and unambiguous explanatory statements of each amendment’s chief purpose.

The court has yet to rule on the merits of that challenge. If the city prevails, the results will be certified and the charter amendments that received majority support, Questions 2, 3 and 4, would go into effect. If the Watch Group prevails, the results will not be certified regardless of the vote totals.

Even under that scenario, Questions 5 and 6 would be unaffected. Voters rejected both measures.

The city council adopted all six charter amendment ordinances on Dec. 16, 2025. The Watch Group filed its lawsuit on Jan. 14, 2026.

Read the full election night story here.