Is Gov. Ron DeSantis going too far in trying to defeat an amendment to restore abortion access?
That’s what one group says.
“Gov. DeSantis is using his election police to intimidate voters who dare to have beliefs that differ from his. This opens the door towards making voters and all Floridians feel unsafe for voicing their constitutionally protected opinions on important issues like abortion,” says All Voting is Local Action’s Florida State Director Brad Ashwell.
“It’s been clear from day one that the purpose of the election police was to harass voters who don’t have the same viewpoints as the governor. By going after a petition for Amendment 4, which is already on the ballot, Gov. DeSantis is undermining the will of voters and stomping over their democratic freedoms for his own political gain,” Ashwell adds.
State officials are visiting people who signed the petition to get the measure on the ballot, per the Tampa Bay Times, in an effort to establish what reporters call “potential petition fraud.”
The DeSantis administration is already under fire for a so-called transparency webpage that combats “the lies and disinformation surrounding Florida’s abortion laws” to make the case that the amendment, which would end the current ban on the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, is not needed.
Prior to that, the administration waded into the debate about ballot language to ensure it reads that litigation would impact the state budget if the amendment should pass.
The Governor is investing what appears to be dwindling political capital into this push. New polling suggests legalized abortion, with 55% approval, is more popular than DeSantis, who is under 50%. However, the amendment would need 60% support to pass.
–A.G. Gancarski, Florida Politics
