Gabrielle Russon
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill adding new hurdles for future citizen-led ballot initiatives Friday night, hours after the Legislature passed the measure.
DeSantis, an outspoken critic of Amendment 3 and 4 to legalize marijuana and protect abortion rights, had pushed lawmakers to change the process before the start of the Session.
The ACLU of Florida warned that the new law will make future constitutional amendment initiatives impossible. The organization, which could not say late Friday if it planned to sue, vowed to fight back.
“This is not about protecting the integrity of the process. It’s about preserving power for a few who want unchecked control and the ability to ignore the will of the voters,” said Bacardi Jackson, executive director of the ACLU of Florida. “When politicians don’t like the outcomes of citizen amendments — like raising the minimum wage, expanding voting rights or exposing the majority mandate to restore reproductive freedom — they change the rules. That’s not democracy. That’s manipulation. … But we will not stand by quietly. We will fight back, we will organize, and we will stand with the communities and constituents who have been betrayed and will help to hold every lawmaker accountable who voted to silence our voices.”
A ballot initiative already needs at least 60% of the vote to win — a tough bar to cross.
Now, people who collect more than 25 signed petitions beyond their own and their immediate family must register as official petition circulators and undergo two hours of online training. Otherwise, they could be charged with a third-degree felony.
The law makes sweeping changes to the process, including increasing the timeline to turn in signed petitions from 30 days to 10 days and imposing hefty fines on petition sponsors and petition signers who must provide personal information, such as the last four digits of their Social Security numbers or driver’s license numbers.
During HB 1205’s debate this week, Republicans argued the changes are necessary to stop out-of-state circulators and crack down on petition fraud.
“We’re doing this because we want to reduce the bad actions,” said Sen. Don Gaetz, a Crestview Republican. “We want to reduce the fraud. We want to reduce the opportunities for people to pervert the system.”
The new law also bans public money from being spent on amendment campaigns after DeSantis spent millions of dollars fighting Amendments 3 and 4.
Gaetz conceded that state officials had inspired the provision last year without mentioning DeSantis by name.
“They engaged in behavior that will now be unlawful and will now be prevented if we pass this bill,” Gaetz told Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Democrat turned Independent, to convince him to vote for the bill on the Senate floor.
17 comments
Michael K
May 2, 2025 at 10:03 pm
The only true fraud is living in luxury public housing known as the governors mansion with his grifting wife. The governor obviously holds “we the people” with disdain and contempt.
SuzyQ
May 2, 2025 at 10:36 pm
All untrue LOL
James Murphy
May 3, 2025 at 10:55 am
Republicans literally just Lie, Cheat and Steal.
Bill
May 3, 2025 at 7:26 am
The boiling frog metaphor springs to mind. Apparently, we’re governed by tiny little men with fragile ego’s.
Larry Gillis, Director-at-Large, Libertarian Party of Florida
May 2, 2025 at 11:30 pm
NO THANKS FOR KNEE-CAPPING THE PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT GOOD GOVERNMENT. (WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?)
The most fundamental policy decisions (i.e., constitutional principles) are up to the People. With this law, the Governor and his allies have made it more difficult for the People to be heard through Constitutional amendments.
Thanks for nothing. This will be remembered.
Victoria Olson
May 3, 2025 at 11:28 am
Another form of Voter Suppression, they don’t want Citizen voices hear about anything bunch of Fascist NAZI’S.
SuzyQ
May 3, 2025 at 12:02 pm
Voter suppression? Laughable from the same delusional source. All it does is keep the petition process truly voluntary and grassroots and keeping out foreign and out-of-state dark money, making sure that everyone who signs a legitimate petition is a legitimate registered voter, no more paid petition gathers, no more enlisting convicted felons in the process. If minimizing voter fraud and bad actors in electoral process is so-called voter suppression, then so be it. Now that it’s the law of the land, deal with it or move.
Along for the Ride
May 3, 2025 at 3:26 pm
Sure believe what DeSantis tells you to believe, he doesn’t support what the people of Florida want so instead of doing the right thing he uses our tax dollars illegally to go after citizen lead initiatives and this has only made it harder for our actual voices to be heard. Suzy please do better for yourself. It’s really said you like you kiss Desantis’ ass so much.
cassandra
May 4, 2025 at 11:42 am
YOU: “voter fraud”
Citations for “voter fraud”?
wake up people
May 3, 2025 at 11:29 am
Fraud, waste and abuse sums up the GOP clowns who run our State. The Florida Constitution sets out one job for the Legislature- pass a budget. But the losers who voted to destroy our rights to amend OUR constitution didn’t do the one job. Now they are coming back to try again and guess who gets to pay for their clown show? We get the government that we deserve. Wake up people! Vote them out!!!
R Russell
May 3, 2025 at 12:28 pm
I have mixed feelings about this new law! Sometimes so called protections provided by our “elected representatives” create an atmosphere where bad politicians can exert actual dictatorial control over their citizens. This is one for which there are many examples how this law can do just that!
PeterH
May 3, 2025 at 1:11 pm
Freedumb arrives wrapped in an authoritarian regime package. 📦
Along for the Ride
May 3, 2025 at 1:34 pm
It’s been this way since he was elected
Along for the Ride
May 3, 2025 at 1:33 pm
Ummm why don’t they make the law retroactive so that people can go after DeSantis for abusing our tax dollars? What about the $10,000,000.00 to hope Florida? Oh and the new rules for the ballot initiatives are stupid and not right! Listen to your constituents!!!!!
SayAgain
May 3, 2025 at 2:08 pm
“including increasing the timeline to turn in signed petitions from 30 days to 10 days”
That sounds like *decreasing* the timeline to me. Maybe say “speeding” the timeline? “Shortening” the timeline?
Earl Pitts American
May 3, 2025 at 3:30 pm
Thanks to the leadership of myself, Earl Pitts American, the annoying citizen-led ballot initiatives are finally over … graveyard dead … throw dirt on top of them … forever more dead in Florida.
As I stated earlier, I, Earl Pitts American, would have saved these citizen-led ballot initiatives if one … only one “Dook 4 Brains Lefty Florida Citizen could name me 1 [one], only one good thing that came out of these anoying citizen-led ballot initiatives.
Welp we got no one willing to step up and lie to my, Earl Pitts American’s face, so I flashed Ron the sign to go ahead.
Your Welcome, Florida, yet another annoying problem solved courtsy of Earl Pitts American.
*FREE BUMPER STICKER*
*I’M VOTING WITH EARL 4 DESANTIS 4 POTUS 2028*
Frank Roder
May 3, 2025 at 5:53 pm
Anything to diminish the power of the voters, either before it gets on the ballot or after it gets passed.
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