Liberty Counsel: 'Group Behind FL Abortion Amendment Pays $186K in Fraud Claims'

Posted at Liberty Counsel:

Published January 6, 2025

TALLAHASSEE, FL – The pro-abortion group behind Florida’s failed amendment to enshrine a right to abortion in the state constitution recently paid more than $186,000 in fines stemming from complaints and investigations alleging major fraudulent activity during its campaign.

According to a Dec. 20, 2024 memo from Florida Deputy Secretary of State for Legal Affairs and Election Integrity Brad McVay, state election officials were “inundated” in 2023 and 2024 with signature fraud complaints about “Floridians Protecting Freedom” (FPF), the group that sponsored Amendment 4. FPF needed a minimum of 891,523 public signatures to get Amendment 4 on the ballot, in which they collected 997,035. As a result of the complaints, the Florida Office of Election Crimes & Security (OECS) opened more than 100 criminal investigations in FPF signature gatherers. The investigations involved allegations of paid FPF signature gatherers signing petitions themselves on behalf of deceased individuals, forging voter signatures on petitions, using voters’ personal identifying information without consent, and perjury/false swearing when submitting the petitions.

The OECS has referred many of these cases to Florida law enforcement where at least three people employed by FPF have since been arrested, convicted of several felonies, and sentenced, one to a multi-year prison term, the memo stated. The memo also noted that a larger group of paid signature gatherers employed by FPF are still under investigation where at least 55 are already “known fraudsters” and appeared on an industry “Do Not Buy” list.

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