In the latest development in Gov. Ron DeSantis' war against a "radical" Florida abortion amendment, the Department of State announced Thursday that they've discovered evidence of fraudulent abortion petitions that helped secure the measure's spot on the November ballot.
First broken by the Tampa Bay Times, DeSantis' elections police have questioned some people who signed petitions to put Amendment 4 on the ballot, which would enshrine abortion access until fetal viability—around 24 weeks—in the state constitution. It would also overturn the state's six-week abortion ban, which was a DeSantis priority greenlit by the state Supreme Court earlier this year.
DeSantis worries that some of the nearly one million signatures on the abortion petition—approved by local supervisors of elections almost seven months ago—were fraudulently signed, some of which he says were submitted "on behalf of dead people."
The Florida Department of State agrees.
"The Department of State has uncovered evidence of illegal conduct with fraudulent petitions. We have a duty to seek justice for Florida citizens who were victimized by fraud and safeguard the integrity of Florida’s elections," the Department, which has asked at least six supervisors for around 37,000 verified petitions, posted on social media Thursday morning. "Our office will continue this investigation and make referrals to FDLE as appropriate."
DeSantis has come under heavy fire for the new investigation, firstly because the fraudulent signatures cited by his administration had already been rejected—meaning those signatures never counted toward the total required to put the amendment on the ballot, Axios reported. In response, however, the Department of State said they are investigating tens of thousands of other potentially fake signatures because there may have been fraud that was not caught.
On the same topic, DeSantis has also been heavily criticized by congressional Democrats who have accused him of abusing his power to cut down the amendment. Thursday, they sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland asking that he investigate the Governor's "anti-democratic actions."
"Governor DeSantis, who has been vocal about his opposition to Amendment 4, has leveraged his government to sabotage, suppress votes, and campaign against it,” U.S. Reps. Maxwell Frost and Debbie Wasserman Schultz wrote.
This isn't the first Amendment 4-related legal threat this week facing the Governor: on Tuesday, a Lake Worth attorney filed a petition with the state Supreme Court asking them to issue a writ of quo warranto and mandamus to DeSantis (among others), for "interfering with the election for Amendment 4" by hosting a faith-based meeting to discuss the "ramifications" of Amendment 4.
The petition argues that DeSantis is violating a Florida statute prohibiting state officers from participating in political campaigns while on duty or using their authority to influence an election. The court agreed to fast-track the case and is expected to review it in the coming weeks.
This is only the newest twist in the Governor's battle, which is also complete with a state-sponsored website targeting Amendment 4, calling out congressional Republicans by name for not donating to defeat the amendment, allowing his top aide to chair a committee against the abortion amendment, and being allied with a former appointee who spearheaded the charge to add language on the ballot implying the amendment may lead to taxpayer-funded abortions, the Miami Herald reported.
Amendment 4 will be on the Nov. 5 ballot for voters to decide on. If 60% of Floridians vote "yes", it will amend the state constitution.
