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    • DeSantis launches his latest attack on Florida's proposed abortion amendment
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    DeSantis launches his latest attack on Florida's proposed abortion amendment

    Kathleen William Posted on

    The report expressed concerns that DeSantis could attempt to invalidate Amendment 4 either before or after it goes before voters on November 5.

    John Kennedy
    | Capital Office | USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA

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    Gov. Ron DeSantis' latest attempt to thwart the abortion rights ballot measure known as Amendment 4 was reflected in a report from his elections director's office that found a series of violations related to the collection of signatures for the campaign's petition were claimed.

    The 348-page report comes from the office of Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd, a Republican former House member who was appointed to the post by DeSantis two years ago. This includes allegations of fraudulent signatures and illegal payment of petition collectors per signature.

    Floridians Protecting Freedom, the campaign for Amendment 4, was recently fined $328,000 for alleged election law violations. The fine was not paid, the document states.

    While the report, described as “preliminary,” urges lawmakers to consider steps during next year's session to better regulate the state's citizen voting process, it raises concerns that DeSantis could still try to pass Amendment 4 for invalidated either before or after its passage voters November 5th.

    The law counters the governor's efforts to undermine policies

    However, precedent works against the governor if he attempts to neutralize Amendment 4.

    The measure, the corresponding number of signatures and the placement of the ballots have already been certified by Byrd's office, and courts rarely overturn election results no matter what irregularities are found.

    The report concludes that 16.4% of the signatures collected across Florida for the Amendment 4 petition may be invalid, based on what even investigators say is a “small sample size” that was reviewed.

    A poll released Sunday by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy found that Amendment 4 was supported by 61% of Florida voters and 33% opposed. Six percent were undecided in the survey, the margin of error was plus or minus 4%.

    Constitutional amendments must be supported by at least 60% of Florida voters to take effect.

    A “desperate” attempt by DeSantis, campaign manager says

    Lauren Brenzel, campaign manager for the proposal, did not directly address the allegations in the report, but said the “attempt to undermine Floridians' right to vote on Amendment 4 is desperate.”

    “Ask yourself, why is this happening now, more than six months after over 997,000 petitions were reviewed by the state of Florida,” Brenzel said. “Now, with less than a month until the election, do you want to reconsider the petition collection process?”

    “Simply put, it’s because our campaign is winning and the government is trying to do everything in its power to deny Floridians the rights they deserve.”

    DeSantis' office did not immediately respond Monday to requests for comment on next steps. House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, did not respond, and a spokeswoman for Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, said she was dealing with damage to her home from recent hurricanes and planned to return the report at a later date Time to read.

    Brenzel added, “This campaign was conducted diligently and complied with state law in every respect. What we are seeing now is nothing more than dishonest distractions and desperate attempts to silence voters.”

    Amendment 4 would repeal Florida's current law, which bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and took effect in May. It replaced a 15-week ban that had been in effect since July 2022, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade had picked up.

    Amendment 4 would return Florida to where it was in the 49 years since Roe v. Wade was the law of the land, allowing most abortions until the fetus was viable, about 24 weeks.

    DeSantis has been pushing for a repeal of the measures for months

    DeSantis has waged an all-out campaign against the measure, using state government power in unprecedented ways and filing lawsuits that have so far failed to block any of his tactics.

    A state health agency has published a website attacking the measure with misleading information. Another threatened the Gainesville and Orlando television stations with criminal sanctions for running an ad about Amendment 4 that the state believes is inaccurate.

    The state Office of Election Crime and Security, created in 2022 by DeSantis and the GOP-controlled Legislature, has also visited the homes of several Florida residents to check whether they have signed petitions, a practice that critics deride as intimidation becomes.

    The Election Crimes Bureau conducted much of the months-long investigation, which was released Friday by the Secretary of State's Office.

    Different results when the questions about the signature came up

    Problems collecting petition signatures have long marred civic groups' campaigns in Florida. However, DeSantis has only stepped up in recent months to sharpen his focus and deploy state forces to consider Amendment 4.

    As recently as 2022, county elections officials raised questions about the validity of petition signatures during a campaign to put before voters a constitutional amendment allowing a casino in Jacksonville.

    That measure was largely funded by Las Vegas Sands, the company owned by the late Sheldon Adelson, a major donor to DeSantis who accompanied the governor to Israel in 2019.

    Also involved in the campaign was Ryan Tyson, a pollster and senior adviser to DeSantis in his unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

    Then-Secretary of State Laurel Lee, now a Republican congresswoman from the Tampa area, asked Attorney General Ashley Moody to investigate regulators' complaints about fraudulent signatures for the proposed amendment, but no investigation was launched and the measure never made it to the ballot.

    John Kennedy is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network's Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X: @JKennedyReport.

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