Ron DeSantis Details Likely Plan to Block Abortion Ballot Measure in 350-Page Report
For the last several months, the Florida governor has been wielding the power of his office to try to thwart Amendment 4.
Photo: Getty Images AbortionPolitics 2024 Election
Late Friday night, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration released a 350-page report alleging “widespread petition fraud” in the signature collection process for Amendment 4, a ballot measure that would enshrine a right to abortion in the state and reverse its six-week ban. This comes just weeks after reports that DeSantis sent election police officers to the homes of voters who signed the Amendment 4 petition, as part of a string of efforts to impede the abortion rights measure.
The report from the Secretary of State Cord Byrd’s office and the Office of Election Crimes & Security (OECS) comes as Floridians have already started voting. (Notably, DeSantis launched OECS in 2022 in response to conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.) The report’s stated purpose is to “reemphasize the need for more effective regulation of petition circulation,” but legal experts and Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern that its real purpose is to delegitimize the ballot measure, and even lay the groundwork to challenge and block it if it passes.
According to the report, which the Tampa Bay Times calls “unprecedented” and “unusual,” a “significant number of known or suspected fraudsters had petitions counted across the state.” Byrd, a Republican who was appointed by DeSantis, claims in the report that the Amendment 4 campaign illegally paid petition gatherers per the number of signatures they collected. As of Friday, Amendment 4 organizers also face a $328,000 fine from the state. The report then says that between 11.7% and 23.6% of the 900,000 signatures submitted by organizers were improperly validated; if 16.4% were improperly validated, this could disqualify the amendment in four Congressional districts, per the Times.
The report further claims that OECS has opened “well more than 100” preliminary criminal investigations, which is terrifying, as advocates allege they’re being politically targeted by the state for supporting abortion rights. Nowhere in the report does Byrd’s office provide evidence of alleged fraud and irregularities, nor does the report give context into the extent of alleged fraud associated with other ballot measures. The Times notes that four organizers for Amendment 4 were arrested at different points earlier this year for alleged voter fraud. But this isn’t abnormal as five organizers for other ballot measures in the state were arrested for alleged voter fraud, too. Nevertheless, more than enough of Amendment 4’s signatures were validated for the ballot measure to qualify. It was also approved by the state Supreme Court. Yet, Amendment 4 is being uniquely singled out.
“This campaign has been run above board and followed state law at every turn,” Lauren Brenzel, the campaign director for Yes on 4, said in a statement. “What we are seeing now is nothing more than dishonest distractions and desperate attempts to silence voters.”