Some Petition Gatherers Don't Have to be Citizens, Florida Residents, Judge Rules

Some petitioners pushing to legalize recreational marijuana, expand Medicaid, or ensure clean water access in the state constitution don't have to be Florida residents or U.S. citizens, a federal judge ruled late Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker temporarily blocked parts of a sweeping new petition fraud law championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that banned non-residents and non-citizens from collecting ballot initiative petitions.

"The State has categorically barred entire classes of people from participating in the core political speech that is central to this process," Walker wrote in the order, criticizing the "State-imposed silence."

In his Tuesday night decision, Walker spliced up which residency or citizenship blockages could go to which individuals, ultimately deciding that gatherers working for Smart & Safe Florida, a pro-marijuana group, or Florida Decides Healthcare, a Medicaid expansion organization, don't have to be Florida residents.

People collecting petitions for the League of Women Voters or the League of United Latin American Citizens don't have to be U.S. citizens, and those working on behalf of the Right to Clean Water group don't have to be Florida residents or U.S. citizens, Walker ruled.

All groups are attempting to amend the Florida constitution at the ballot box in 2026.

Walker's decision comes as President Donald Trump ramps up deportations of non-citizens and has revoked formerly protected statuses for around 2 million migrants. This included Temporary Protected Status for migrants from certain war-torn countries and a temporary humanitarian parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.

It also comes as DeSantis proudly leads the charge against illegal immigration. Just last week, he joined forces with Trump to tout Florida's new Alligator Alcatraz migrant detention center.

The law, HB 1205, 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.

Others require petitioners to register with the state if they gather at least 25 petitions, and require all circulators to be Florida residents and U.S. citizens.

"The Secretary and the Attorney General are enjoined from enforcing the prohibition on non-residents from gathering signed petitions on behalf of FDH, Smart & Safe, and Right to Clean Water’s ballot initiatives," Walker continued. They're similarly ordered to not enforce the ban on non-citizens gathering petitions on behalf of the Right to Clean Water’s ballot initiative.

Still, Walker denied all of the plaintiffs' other requests to restrain other portions of the law.

This is the second ruling from Walker on the new law, HB 1205, signed in May. His first ruling in early June largely sided with the state by exclusively preventing the law's new racketeering crimes from being applied to one project director.

All other injunction requests at the time were denied.

"While we don’t agree with every part of the ruling, today was a great day for our campaign and for Florida voters," FDH's executive director, Mitch Emerson, said in a Wednesday morning statement. "We now have a clear and achievable path to get on the ballot."

HB 1205 was pushed by DeSantis in the months following the death of two citizen-led amendments he opposed. These would have expanded 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 committed fraud and identity theft.

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