The legal battle over a proposed constitutional amendment addressing abortion rights has taken another turn, with the political committee Floridians Protecting Freedom (FPF) contesting a hefty $328,000 fine imposed by the Florida Department of State. At the center of the conflict is a dispute regarding petitions allegedly mishandled during the group’s campaign to pass what was known as Amendment 4.
The Origin of the Dispute
The dispute started late in 2023 when the owner of a petition-circulating business reported suspected fraud by eight employees collecting signatures for the abortion rights initiative. The complaints involved forged and fictitious signatures, as well as incorrect dates of birth.
According to the Department of State, the business owner submitted copies of 600 petitions, many of which he believed were fraudulent, and kept the originals to meet Florida’s 30-day submission deadline for the petitions once they were signed.
With these precautions in place, the Department of State nonetheless believed that 328 petitions were not submitted to supervisors of elections before the deadline. The department then took the extraordinary step of fining Floridians Protecting Freedom $328,000, based on its assertion that the group had “willfully” failed to fulfill its obligations under Florida law. Responding to the Allegations
Floridians Protecting Freedom said it strongly contests the allegations and fine, citing major legal issues about the petition circumstances. In an evidentiary hearing request filed on Nov. 1, the group attacked the validity of the Department of State’s claims on three fronts:
Processing of the Petition: The committee was concerned that the Department of State, in returning the petitions to the person reporting the suspected fraud rather than directly to FPF, unnecessarily complicated its efforts to ensure timely submission to election supervisors.
Validity of the Signatures: FPF questioned whether the disputed petitions were signed by valid registered voters. It also challenged whether the group had any legal duty not to file petitions that may have been invalid.
Willfulness of Alleged Failure: A critical part of the committee’s defense is its assertion that any failure to submit petitions was not willful-which Florida law requires before the fine can be justified.
These will be key points before Administrative Law Judge G.W. Chisenhall, assigned to hear the case.
The dispute comes amid increasing political controversy over abortion rights in Florida. The Amendment 4 campaign was a reaction, in part, to a law passed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature that banned most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
Amendment 4 aimed to make the state constitution guarantee abortion rights. It needed 60% voter approval to pass, but it only garnered about 57% in the Nov. 5 election, and so the amendment went down in defeat as well.
