Judge Largely Denies Activists’ Challenge to Petition Law, Sides With State

TALLAHASSEE—Gov. Ron DeSantis’s controversial new law revamping how citizen-led amendments are put on the ballot will almost fully stay on the books, an Obama-appointed federal judge decided Wednesday.

Judge Mark Walker largely sided with the state in his 33-page order, denying all but one of activist groups’ swath of pleas to block various parts of the petition law signed just last month. The sweeping new law, pushed for by DeSantis to combat petition fraud, remains almost fully intact.

Of the law’s newly imposed fines, deadlines, and criminal penalties, Walker only issued a preliminary injunction on the provision’s “vague” new definition of racketeering as it applies to one plaintiff, petition circulator Jordan Simmons. 

This blockage, at least for now, exclusively applies to Simmons. All other provisions in the 58-page law can still take effect.

But that hasn’t stopped both sides from claiming victory.

“The court’s order is a win for election integrity,” Jeremy Redfern, spokesman for Attorney General James Uthmeier, told The Floridian in a statement. “The judge enjoined one section of the law as it applies to one person. Florida’s law remains in effect and ensures that citizens—not corporations or special interests—control our Constitution.”

On the other side of the courtroom, the organization behind a proposed amendment to expand Medicaid, Florida Decides Healthcare, took an eerily similar view.

“Today’s ruling is a major victory for all Floridians and a powerful affirmation that our voices still matter,” Executive Director Mitch Emerson said in a statement. “This ruling is a loud, clear reminder that democracy belongs to the people—not to out-of-touch politicians trying to rewrite the rules to silence the voices of Floridians.”

Chair of the Republican Party of Florida, Evan Power, blasted FDH for branding a "sweeping defeat" as a win in a statement to The Floridiam. The GOP group joined the case recently to help defend the state against the grassroots campaigns.

"If Democrats can't win with Judge Walker, there is litte hope for them," Power said, referring to Walker's slew of DeSantis-backed legislation that he's blocked in the past few years.

The measure changes how sponsors of a proposed constitutional amendment can collect and turn in petitions, imposing new deadlines and penalizing violators with hefty fines or felony charges. One portion expands the white-collar crime of racketeering to election code violations.

What Was Being Challenged?

FDH, alongside Smart and Safe Florida, the League of Women Voters, and Simmons—an FDH project director—asked Walker to block parts of HB 1205, the petition law signed into law just hours after passing the Legislature.

This includes the provisions shortening the time sponsors have to turn in petitions from 30 days to 10 days, imposing a fine of up to $5,000 each day a petition is turned in late, and making it a felony to retain a voter’s personal information without registering with the state.

Walker determined that while the plaintiffs have been “injured” by the new law, that injury doesn’t necessarily equate to a constitutional violation. 

“Plaintiffs’ record only goes so far to show that the process of gathering signed petitions has become more expensive and less efficient,” Walker said of the new 10-day deadline. 

He added that while there was legal standing to request an injunction, the groups didn’t meet the burden of proving their constitutional rights were infringed upon, he added. The same was true of the groups’ arguments on the racketeering front. 

Only Simmons successfully proved the vagueness of the racketeering statute.

“The motion is granted with respect to Plaintiff Jordan Simmons’s vagueness claim challenging the expanded definition of ‘racketeering activity.’ The balance of the motion is denied,” Walker wrote.

HB 1205 was pushed by DeSantis in the months following the death of two citizen-led amendments he opposed. These would have exanded abortion and marijuana access, and both failed just shy of the 60% threshold needed to pass.

DeSantis, who alongside his wife hosted 16 statewide events deriding both measures, insisted more guardrails are needed in the petition process after a state report found that some petition circulators had committeed fraud and identity theft.

He signed HB 1205 just hours after the Legislature passed it in early May.