It sure looks like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is trying to sabotage a legit abortion-rights protection amendment on the state’s ballot in November.
The Tampa Bay Times has the deets on DeSantis’ latest sliminess:
In a move that supporters of the amendment fear could be “political interference,” Gov. Ron DeSantis’ deputy secretary of state has asked supervisors in Hillsborough, Orange, Palm Beach and Osceola counties to gather roughly 36,000 signatures for the state to review.
The signatures were among the nearly 1 million collected — and verified by local supervisors as belonging to real Floridians — to permit Amendment 4 to appear before voters in November. The amendment would protect abortion access and undo the state’s six-week abortion ban that DeSantis championed.
Whether the request could be used to challenge the amendment or strike it from the ballot is not clear. A deadline in state law to challenge the validity of the signatures has long passed.
The Times further reports that defeating the amendment is a “top priority” for DeSantis.
The Hill reported Friday that 55% of likely Florida voters say they will vote “yes” for the amendment, with 20% unsure. 60% of the vote is required for the amendment to pass.
DeSantis has a well-documented history of subverting democracy for the sake of his autocracy. Ron Filipkowski notes that DeSantis removed two Democratic prosecutors elected in major urban areas. And he used the power of the government to go after Disney after it publicly disagreed with his "Don't Say Gay" policy.
Filipkowski also points out that desperate DeSantis attached a BS “economic impact statement” about the amendment next to it on the ballot. It is clearly designed to fear monger that the amendment would hugely harm state’s finances, including the possibility of publicly-funded abortions. “Desantis is actively seeking to stack to the deck in every way against this Amendment,” Filipkowski wrote. “When he runs for president in 2028, he wants to be able to brag to Republican primary voters that he was the only governor able to successfully block a ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights.”
I so hope Floridians turn out in droves to successfully block his shenanigans and restore health care to women in the state.
