Ron DeSantis Going Out of His Way to Discourage Voters

Florida is voting on a constitutional amendment that would restore a right to abortion in the state, overcoming more than a year of resistance and efforts—including from the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis—to stop voters from directly weighing in on the issue.  Across multiple Republican-controlled states, state officials have waged legal battles and other efforts to thwart abortion rights measures from getting on the ballot or to influence the language. But Florida stands out for how DeSantis is deploying multiple levers of power within his administration to discredit the amendment and even block political speech about it. These efforts amount to the most sweeping and brazen government-funded campaigns opposing an abortion ballot measure this election cycle. 

Trying to stop the measure from getting on the ballot: Florida is one of the rare states where the state Supreme Court must review the language for a proposed constitutional amendment to make sure it’s clear, concise, and pertains to a single subject. Ashley Moody, the state attorney general and a DeSantis ally, argued in briefs and oral arguments before the court that the word “viability” in the ballot measure language was vague and ill-undefined. But Chief Justice Carlos G. Munoz wasn’t convinced, saying in oral arguments: “The people of Florida aren’t stupid. They can figure this out.” On April 1, the high court allowed the measure to appear on the ballot. DeSantis on Tuesday criticized the decision as a mistake.

Influencing the measure’s fiscal estimat: In Florida, an estimate of what an amendment would cost appears on the ballot alongside the amendment’s text. DeSantis and Republican House Speaker Paul Renner handpicked two appointees on the typically under-the-radar Fiscal Impact Estimating Conference (FIEC) to influence this figure. The language of the estimate, which Floridians Protecting Freedom has decried as “deceptive” and “politically motivated,” states that the amendment’s passage “would result in significantly more abortions and fewer live births per year in Florida” and speculates that the amendment passing would drive up litigation costs and open the door to taxpayer-funded abortions. It also states that fewer people being born “may negatively affect the growth of state and local revenues over time.”

Launching a petition fraud investigation: State officials verified almost 1 million petition signatures filed by Floridians Protecting Freedom months ago, before the measure's language was approved for the ballot. But in September, the Office of Election Security and Crimes within the secretary of state’s office ordered local election supervisors to review some 36,000 signatures as part of an investigation into petition fraud. Law enforcement officials even appeared at the homes of voters who had signed initiative petitions. The unprecedented step, not seen in any other state, unnerved some voters who spoke to the Miami Herald and was criticized as a form of voter intimidation by the Yes on 4 campaign. Late in the evening of Oct. 11, well after mail ballots had started going out to voters, the secretary of state’s office released a nearly 350-page report detailing allegations of improper and fraudulent petition activity. The ACLU of Florida called it "factually baffling" and "the latest in a string of desperate attempts to discredit Amendment 4." One county election supervisor told Axios the probe mainly centered on signatures that had already been rejected for mismatched signatures or other discrepancies, not ones that determined the amendment's qualifications for the ballot. The office has not taken any legal action to further pursue their claims, which DeSantis also mentioned in the Tuesday event, but urged lawmakers in the report to reform the laws governing the initiative process. "Dropping these allegations now is an irresponsible and tired trick. The state knows these allegations cannot substantively alter its decision to certify Amendment 4," Jackson of the ACLU Florida said in a statement.    

Airing state-funded TV ads opposing Amendment 4: At least three agencies housed within the DeSantis administration have aired television and radio ads, and put up a page on the Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA)’s website opposing Amendment 4. Journalist Jason Garcia, author of the Seeking Rents newsletter, has tracked nearly $20 million in taxpayer funds that have gone to state-sponsored ad campaigns opposing Amendment 4 and Amendment 3, which would legalize recreational marijuana in the state. State money has also gone to the legal battles surrounding ads from both sides. A judge dismissed a lawsuit the ACLU of Florida filed challenging the anti-Amendment 4 ad campaigns as a misuse of taxpayer funds. AHCA defended the website as an effort to educate voters and provide “transparency.”  

Threatening criminal charges over pro-Amendment 4 TV ads: Floridians Protecting Freedom is airing a television ad featuring a woman who speaks about her experience terminating a pregnancy to be able to undergo chemotherapy when she was diagnosed with brain cancer — health care the campaign argues would not be accessible now under the six-week ban. In a highly unusual step, the Florida Department of Health sent letters to local television stations arguing the advertisement is misleading about the medical exceptions to Florida’s abortion law and threatened that they could face second-degree misdemeanor criminal charges for creating a “sanitary nuisance.” The department’s general counsel, John Wilson, subsequently resigned, the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times reported, writing in his resignation letter that “a man is nothing without his conscience.” He later stated in court documents that it was DeSantis’ own deputies who directed him to send the letters. A spokesperson for DeSantis did not immediately return a request for comment about Wilson’s claims. The department’s actions were rebuked by a federal judge. In granting Floridians Protecting Freedom’s request for a temporary injunction to block the Health Department from sending additional letters to TV stations, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker wrote: “To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it’s the First Amendment, stupid.”

Hitting the trail: Erik Dellenback, the liaison for faith and community within DeSantis’ office, has been out on the road advocating against Amendment 4 and urging faith leaders to speak to their congregations about it, including on a bus tour organized by the No on 4 campaign and Florida Family Voice. At the Pensacola stop of the tour, Dellenback estimated he would do 50 speaking engagements on Amendment 4 before the election. “This isn't something that we can pick up on Nov. 6 and fix. This is something we have from now to Nov. 5 to make a difference,” he said at the Pensacola stop of the tour. “There's a joke going on on the bus that we will sleep on Nov. 6. Until then, we will run, we will leave it all in the field.”