Police Intimidation of Florida Abortion Ballot Signers?

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If someone shows up at your door seeking signatures for a ballot initiative they are hoping to put up in the upcoming election, you might decide to sign it (assuming you agree with the proposal) and then largely forget about it. But what if someone came by later to knock on your door asking questions about your signature? What if that person happened to be a uniformed state police officer? Would you find that a bit offputting? That’s a situation currently unfolding in Florida, where supporters of a ballot initiative that would expand the availability of abortions in the state well past the current six-week limit are crying foul. Critics are describing this as an intimidation tactic, while the DeSantis team claims that they are simply investigating allegations of fraud. (Associated Press)

State police are showing up at Florida voters’ homes to question them about signing a petition to get an abortion rights amendment on the ballot in November, and a state health care agency has launched a website targeting the ballot initiative with politically charged language.

Critics say they’re the latest efforts by Florida’s Republican elected officials to leverage state resources to try to block the abortion rights measure, moves which some Democratic officials argue could violate state laws against voter intimidation.

“Ron (DeSantis) has repeatedly used state power to interfere with a citizen-led process to get reproductive freedom on the ballot,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried told reporters on Monday. “This is their latest desperate attempt before Election Day.”

Reading through the details, this doesn’t sound like a case of voter intimidation at first glance, but the entire operation definitely seems strange and, at least in some ways, rather pointless. If credible allegations of fraud in the signature-gathering process were uncovered, then obviously they need to be investigated. Who better to conduct that investigation than the state police? And credible allegations were indeed brought forward. One group gathering signatures for the Amendment 4 abortion rights proposal submitted the signatures of dead people. Of course, up here in New York, we’ve had dead people voting in congressional elections, so it seems a bit petty to not let them sign petitions. (I kid… I kid.)

But at the same time, those objecting to the investigation make some valid points as well. A deadline for challenging the validity of signatures submitted in support of a ballot measure has already passed. Also, the state Supervisor of Election has already accepted the submitted signatures as being valid. They said that some fraudulent signatures may have been submitted, but those signatures were not accepted. The ones that were turned over officially had all been verified.

This really isn’t a good look for DeSantis and his allies in Florida. It’s easy enough to understand how some of the most ardent pro-life advocates would want to keep Amendment 4 off of the ballot. This used to be an issue where a red state could simply assume they would prevail. But states like Kansas, Georgia, and others have put the lie to that assumption. Ron DeSantis played a key role in locking in Florida as a solidly red state on most major issues, but not when it comes to abortion. I don’t know if it will pass in November, but it’s not surprising at all that they could get the measure on the ballot and do so legally.

In the end, that’s what all of this boils down to. Pro-life advocates fought for decades to see Roe overturned and return the choice about abortion restrictions to the states. Having finally achieved that goal thanks to the SCOTUS appointments made by Donald Trump, some of these pro-life advocates were left in the unfortunate position of being the dog who finally caught the car and realized that it didn’t know how to drive. Turning that option over to the states meant that the people of each state, not the state GOP would get to make the final call. The system is working as intended. If people start trying to stomp all over citizen-driven initiatives to prevent them from making the choice they prefer, it’s the interfering activists who wind up with mud on their faces.