MIAMI, FL — On Friday evening, the Florida Secretary of State’s office published a lengthy but factually baffling report targeting the petition initiative for Amendment 4—the ballot measure to limit government interference with abortion.
Over a year ago, Floridians Protecting Freedom, the organization leading the Amendment 4 campaign, submitted over one million petition signatures to the state for verification. Supervisors of Elections were paid over $1 million to accurately verify those petitions. On April 1, the campaign exceeded the statutory threshold of verified petitions by more than 100,000 petitions and the Florida Supreme Court ruled that Amendment 4 met the legal requirements to be placed on the November ballot.
The Secretary of State’s unprecedented and suspiciously-timed report makes nonsensical claims about a few hundred petitions, which would have had no effect on the campaign meeting the statutory requirements. Importantly, the state had an opportunity to file objections to petitions before April, but did not object to the inconsequential petitions for which it is now attempting to sanction and publicly chastise the campaign. It also cannot substantively alter its decision to certify Amendment 4 and the ability of voters to decide on the measure during the General Election. Rather, this report is one more example of the government’s interference in this election and its misuse of taxpayer money to attempt to discredit a campaign that is on course to end government interference in medical decisions.
The report was published mere days after Gov. DeSantis’ administration threatened to criminally prosecute TV stations for running a political advertisement supporting Amendment 4, and within just weeks of it sending police to the homes of petition signers to intimidate them, launching a PSA campaign costing millions of dollars to push a state agency website—all at taxpayers’ expense—to peddle misinformation about Florida’s extreme abortion ban.
Bacardi Jackson, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, responded with the following:
“Florida voters will not be fooled. We see this report for what it is – the latest in a string of desperate attempts to discredit Amendment 4 and keep an extreme and dangerous abortion ban in place.
“The state is exclusively responsible for verifying petition signatures well before any amendment can be placed on a ballot. Supervisors of Elections across the state already did their jobs in verifying petitions last year. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in favor of the ballot initiative process and confirmed that Amendment 4 met the legal requirements to be placed on the November ballot months ago.
“We are 21 days from Election Day. Vote-by-mail ballots have been requested and sent to voters’ homes. Many Floridians have already voted on Amendment 4. Dropping these allegations now is an irresponsible and tired trick. The state knows these allegations cannot substantively alter its decision to certify Amendment 4 and the ability of voters to end Florida’s cruel and extreme abortion ban during this election.
“Over the past months, the state has orchestrated an unprecedented campaign against Amendment 4. It has failed to meaningfully refute the threat and dangers posed by Florida’s extreme abortion ban. It has instead resorted to threatening broadcast stations and demanding they take down a ‘Yes on 4’ ad featuring a Florida woman with terminal brain cancer from sharing her story. They spent millions of taxpayer dollars for so-called public service announcements spreading misinformation about Amendment 4. They dispatched election officers to the homes of verified petition signers, who stood by their signatures, as a blatant display of voter intimidation. They forced a second Financial Impact Estimating Conference to bring out-of-state actors from the Heritage Foundation to tamper with Amendment 4’s financial impact statement.
“Interfering with Floridians’ ability to engage in the democratic process and make their own decision at the polls ironically is exactly the kind of government interference Amendment 4 was designed to stop. The Florida Secretary of State's report is a thinly veiled attempt to lay the groundwork for dismantling the citizen initiative process, which has served as the people’s tool to take action for decades. It reflects the state’s inclination to ruthlessly govern with an iron fist aimed at crushing voices of dissent.
“The state is becoming too accustomed to abusing its power, and it has not gone unnoticed. We will take the opportunity to remind Florida politicians where power truly resides in our state during this election: With the people. We’ll see them at the polls.”
