A new bill inspired by a petition fraud settlement paid by an abortion rights group passed its first committee Thursday, aiming to overhaul Florida's ballot initiative process through a $1 million bond on future petition sponsors and charging certain fraudsters with racketeering.
Filed by Republican Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, HB 1205 would enact widespread changes increasing the checkpoints for citizens to put constitutional amendments on the ballot. It directly follows a brutal battle between Gov. Ron DeSantis's administration and the backers of two amendments, including the pro-abortion group Floridians Protecting Freedom, which paid a $164,000 settlement to the state and was found to have committed petition crimes, per a state report.
"I heard numerous anecdotal stories from constituents and folks in my area who said, 'I was duped, I was lied to [on the ballot initiatives],'" said Persons-Mulicka of her 30-page bill in Thursday's House Government Operations Subcommittee.
"It wasn't until the Office of Election Crimes and Security came out with their report...that I was absolutely shocked by how widespread and pervasive the fraudulent activity actually was," she added.
She referenced the massive legal battles surrounding Amendment 4, a proposed measure by Floridians Protecting Freedom to enshrine abortion until viability in the state constitution. DeSantis's administration accused the group of submitting thousands of fraudulent petitions to secure its spot on the November ballot—an allegation FPF largely denied then and did again on Thursday.
"[The state report] was an unprecedented attack on supervisors' capabilities. The bulk of its claims were statistically inaccurate audits," said Lauren Brenzel, the former FPF Campaign Director, in public comments before pivoting to the bill at hand. "This bill chills volunteers from being able to participate in citizen-led democracy."
Despite nearly three hours of back-and-forth on the controversial bill, it passed its first committee down party lines.
What Does The Bill Do?
HB 1205 tackles and alters several aspects of citizen-led ballot measures, a process granted in 26 U.S. states.
Under the bill, Floridians hoping to sponsor an amendment petition would have to post a $1 million bond with the Division of Elections. Sponsors must also verify that all petition circulators are Florida residents and have never committed sexual crimes, fraud, election felonies, perjury, or counterfeiting, under threat of a $50,000 fine.
It also requires them to be U.S. citizens, a provision echoing part of a 2023 law permanently enjoined by federal court requiring gatherers of voter registration applications to be citizens.
In terms of penalties, the bill expands Florida's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act to include violating Florida's Election Code through petition fraud, meaning defrauders can be charged with racketeering activity. Racketeering is a hefty crime involving illegal business activities, which can result in a maximum of 30 years in prison.
The measure also shortens the time it takes to deliver petition forms to a supervisor of elections from 30 to 10 days, upping the late fines to as much as $2,500 per late petition, and creates a signature revocation process for voters who say their signature was forged.
Other provisions include requiring more identification from petition circulators and Floridians signing a petition and shortening the days an election supervisor has to verify signatures. The registration of all paid petition circulators would be canceled soon after the bill's passage, requiring all to re-register under the bill's new provisions.
How Did the Bill Come About?
After Amendment 4 failed with 57% of voter approval (Florida requires constitutional amendments to reach a 60% threshold), the slew of litigation punctuating the measure's campaign cycle continued through December, when FPF shelled out $164,000 to the Department of State, neither denying nor admitting to petition fraud.
The group disbanded soon after. Weeks later, the state elections office released a preliminary report finding that 100 FPF representatives had committed petition fraud. It also found that FPF, along with gatherers for other proposals on the 2024 ballot, submitted the information of more than 50 dead people, committed identity theft, and illegally paid circulators based on the number of petitions gathered, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
The state is now auditing and reexamining the Amendment 4 petitions for further evidence of fraud.
DeSantis waged a statewide war on the two citizen-led proposals during the 2024 election cycle: Amendment 4 and Amendment 3, legalizing recreational marijuana. After 16 campaign tours between DeSantis and his wife and millions of taxpayer dollars spent by state agencies in opposition to the measures, both referendums failed.
A comparable bill in the Senate, filed by Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, is a massive expansion of Persons-Mulicka's version, standing at a whopping 183 pages. It has yet to see committee.
HB 1205 will head to the State Affairs Committee next.
