ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration is reviewing petition signatures that were used to get Amendment 4, which would limit government interference with abortion, on the November ballot, according to multiple media reports.
A report from the Tampa Bay Times says the Florida Department of State is looking for fraud.
The governor's deputy secretary of state, Brad McVay, has asked supervisors in Hillsborough, Orange, Palm Beach and Osceola counties to gather nearly 36,000 signatures for the state to look over, the Tampa Bay Times said.
In the email to supervisors, McVay listed a number of petition circulators suspected of committing fraud, according to the report.
"Most of the circulators listed represent known or suspected fraudsters, several others have very concerning invalidity rates,” McVay wrote in an email that was forwarded to Hillsborough County’s elections supervisor. “We would like to review the petitions that were verified as valid submitted by these individuals.”
Two supervisors told the Tampa Bay Times Wednesday that the state's inquiries were "highly unusual."
Amendment 4 would protect abortion access and do away with Florida's six-week abortion ban, which took effect May 1 with DeSantis' support.
It reads, “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”
To pass, Amendment 4 needs at least 60% of the vote.
At this time, the Times says whether or not McVay's requests could be used to challenge the amendment or strike it from the ballot is unclear. The deadline in state law to challenge the validity of the signatures has reportedly long passed.
According to a report from Orlando station WESH, Floridians Protecting Freedom Campaign Director Lauren Brenzel confirmed Amendment 4 is secured for November's ballot.
"Any effort to undermine the validity of these petitions is political interference aimed at distracting from the real issue: Florida’s extreme abortion ban, which has no real exceptions for rape, incest, or health of the woman," Brenzel told WESH in a statement. "Any attempt to undermine this vote is an attack on Floridians’ rights, their futures, and democracy at-large. This is nothing more than trickery by extreme politicians who fear the will of the people.”
