Democrats slam Ron DeSantis for ‘witch hunt’ over fraudulent Amendment 4 petitions

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 12/14/22-Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, D-Orlando, during session Wednesday at the Capitol in Tallahassee. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

Democrats are accusing Gov. Ron DeSantis of going on a witch hunt to find fraudulent Amendment 4 petitions that helped place a measure to protect abortion rights on the November ballot.

At a virtual press conference, elected officials and party leaders slammed DeSantis for what they said was a weaponization of state resources to fight Amendment 4.

Election police have knocked on doors questioning people who signed the petitions to put the issue on the ballot, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

A state government health agency also recently launched a “transparency page” campaigning against Amendment 4.

Rep. Anna Eskamani, a Democrat from Orlando, called the searches a “witch hunt” and “political theater by Gov. Ron DeSantis and his cronies who are just so desperate to maintain Florida’s near total abortion ban that they were fishing for any type of information.”

DeSantis said the Florida Department of State found one group that collected petitions on behalf of dead people. Other petition signatures did not match the voter files, he said.

“Our tolerance in the state of Florida for any type of election related fraud is zero. We are not going to put up with it,” DeSantis said Monday as he warned that fraudulent petitions will be forwarded to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Democrats said Monday that they didn’t buy DeSantis’ claims. The pointed out that county Supervisor of Elections’ Offices — led by elected officials from both parties — approved the nearly 1 million petitions for Amendment 4, and the Florida Department of State also verified them.

“It just seems that if there were any fraud allegations, those would have been uncovered much sooner. I think what’s really happening is that these extremists are feeling like their backs are against the ropes,” said House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell. “They feel this is slipping away from them because the people of Florida want Amendment 4 to pass, and so now they’re just grasping at straws and throwing anything at the wall to see what will stick.”

Driskell said DeSantis is desperate following a string of high-profile failures, from his unsuccessful presidential run to the latest backlash over developing state parks.

“With embarrassment after embarrassment, what we see is they are getting very desperate and trying to weaponize state government against its own people,” Driskell said.

Meanwhile, DeSantis defended the state agency’s website against Amendment 4.

“Everything is above board. We have resources to do public service announcements across a wide variety of fronts,” DeSantis said. “Everything that’s put out is factual. … It’s things that can absolutely be done through these public service announcements and I’m glad they’re doing it. I think it’s informative.”

On Nov. 5, Floridians will decide Amendment 4 which seeks to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. Florida’s six-week abortion ban went into effect in May.