Latest news with #Smart&SafeFlorida
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge largely declines to block Florida law restricting ballot-initiative drives
A federal judge on Wednesday largely denied a request from petition groups to block parts of a Florida law that changes how citizen-led amendments make it to the ballot. In passing the law earlier this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the bill's Republican sponsors said the petition process needed reform because it is riddled with fraud. But groups like Florida Decides Healthcare, which is trying to get an amendment that will expand Medicaid access on 2026 ballots, quickly sued, saying the new law stifles people's ability to use the petition process. Other groups, including the recreational marijuana campaign Smart & Safe Florida, joined the lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker largely denied the plaintiffs' request to block three sections of the new law. Plaintiffs had asked Walker to temporarily block a requirement that campaigns turn in all petitions within 10 days to county elections offices. They also contested changes that increased fines for organizations that turn in petitions late and that added new criminal penalties for filling in missing voter information. The plaintiffs argued that the law violates the First Amendment right to engage in political speech. But Walker, who was nominated to the bench by former President Barack Obama, said court precedent makes clear that the initiative process doesn't have to be the most user-friendly version possible. Walker said the challenging groups hadn't yet proven they were 'severely burdened' by the new law's requirement to turn petitions in within 10 days and the increased late fines. Instead, he said, 'the record shows that these provisions simply make the process of getting their proposed initiatives on the ballot more expensive and less efficient for Plaintiffs.' The marijuana and Medicaid expansion campaigns have said they've been affected by slowed petition collection and discouraged volunteers since the law took effect in early May. The groups hoping to qualify for the 2026 ballot need about 900,000 verified petitions by early next year. Out of all the groups' asks, Walker granted only one plaintiff an injunction on one point. Jordan Simmons, a project director for the Medicaid expansion group, challenged part of the law that includes election code violations for petition fraud in the racketeering statute. Walker sided with Simmons' argument that the racketeering law change was too vague. Despite Walker rejecting most of the Medicaid expansion groups' asks, Mitch Emerson, a spokesperson for Florida Decides Healthcare, called the ruling a 'major victory.' 'While the Court did not grant every part of our motion for preliminary relief, this is far from the final word,' Emerson said in a statement. 'This ruling was an early, extraordinary step in the legal process—and we are optimistic about what comes next, both for the remaining parts of HB 1205 that we're challenging and for the future of citizen-led democracy in Florida.' Groups have for years used Florida's ballot initiative process as a way to pass changes to the state constitution that lawmakers have refused to put forward. Through petition collection, groups have gotten voters to approve things like medical marijuana, felon voter restoration and a $15 minimum wage. Last year, DeSantis used the power of his administration to successfully oppose two amendments put on the ballot through the petition process: the recreational pot amendment and one that would have protected abortion access. Months after both those measures failed, DeSantis' office suggested a draft bill that would have made petition collection virtually impossible. During the injunction hearing in May, Glenn Burhans, an attorney for Smart & Safe Florida — which sponsored a failed 2024 ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana and is hoping to get a similar amendment on 2026 ballots — said that he thought lawmakers passed the petition change bill because the marijuana measure 'is very popular.' The challenge to the new law is ongoing, and the amendment groups are seeking to block other provisions of the law in another request for a temporary injunction.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Florida ballot initiative law mostly upheld by federal judge, but key part suspended
A federal judge in Tallahassee mostly denied requests to temporarily block parts of a new Florida law revising rules for citizen-led ballot initiatives from plaintiffs who say it violates the First Amendment right to free political speech. The law (HB 1205), signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May, was promptly challenged by Florida Decides Healthcare, a group looking to expand Medicaid access in Florida. Other groups also involved in statewide petitions joined the lawsuit, including Smart & Safe Florida, which is proposing an recreational marijuana initiative. On June 4, Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker denied motions to block multiple portions of the new law that toughens regulations on ballot initiatives, coming after DeSantis and state officials claimed fraud in last year's petition gathering. These parts of the law include a requirement for all petitions to be turned in to local elections offices within 10 days and fines for missing voter information and late petition returns. Walker did grant one motion from the health care group, which challenged a law change in the racketeering statute to include violations of state election code and petition fraud. The judge sided with the plaintiffs over a "vagueness claim" for the new law's expanded definition for "racketeering activity." "But such a standardless and discretionary determination only lends itself to the mischief associated with an unconstitutionally vague statute that allows for arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement," says the order on the motion for preliminary injunction. They can be granted early in a lawsuit to temporarily stop something, like enforcement of a law, until the case is fully decided. Despite the judge's multiple denials, Mitch Emerson of Florida Decides Healthcare called the ruling a "major victory." "The court put a halt to one of the most dangerous parts of HB 1205 – a vague criminal penalty that would have made grassroots participation in the democratic process a potential felony," Emerson said. "That's not just a win for Florida Decides Healthcare – that's a win for every Floridian who wants to engage in the ballot measure process without fear or intimidation." Representatives and attorneys for Smart & Safe Florida did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The lawsuit ultimately argues that the law violates First Amendment rights to political speech and to petition government with its increased penalties, stricter deadlines and toughened regulations on who can circulate petitions. For years, groups have collected petitions to successfully pass initiatives that set caps on the number of students in classrooms, approved medical marijuana, restored voting rights to felons and mandated a $15 minimum wage. On top of the new state regulations that didn't exist in campaigns for last year's amendments, petition groups already face a looming Feb. 1 deadline to submit nearly 900,000 signatures. Yet this law comes after two contentious ballot amendments failed to meet the state's threshold of 60% to amend the constitution — one guaranteeing access to abortion and another approving recreational marijuana for adults. DeSantis campaigned against both initiatives, yet voters supported them by 57.2% and 55.9%, respectively. 2024 marijuana amendment: Recreational marijuana in Florida snuffed out after amendment falls short of 60% Among the increased penalties and stricter deadlines, the law also requires all petition circulators to be Florida residents. On May 30, Smart & Safe Florida filed an emergency motion claiming that the prohibition on non-resident petition circulators "injured" the group's ability "to carry their message to the public." On top of it, the group argued in that motion an already-existing limitation from the law that limits each volunteer to only collect 25 petitions. In their motion, the organization said that the state law's nonresident provision is "very likely the difference between" the amendment getting on the ballot or not. (This story was updated to add new information.) This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA Today Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Stephany Matat is based in Tallahassee, Fla. She can be reached at SMatat@ On X: @stephanymatat. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Ballot initiative crackdown largely survives First Amendment test
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal judge refuses to temporarily halt most of the new ballot initiative restrictions
Most of the provisions in a new state law adding restrictions to the petition-gathering process will remain in effect while litigation continues. (Photo Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix) In an early blow to groups attempting to get amendments on the ballot for the 2026 election, a federal judge declined on Wednesday to temporarily block most of the new restrictions on citizen-led initiatives. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker's ruling allows Florida to proceed with enforcing most of HB 1205, one of Gov. Ron DeSantis' top priorities for this year's legislative session, while litigation brought by some of the groups sponsoring initiatives on the ballot on May 4 moves forward. In the meantime, the state can enforce provisions requiring sponsors to turn in completed petitions within 10 days after the voter signs the form, enact stepped-up fines for providing pre-filled petitions, and collect fines and impose criminal penalties for filling out missing information and copying information from petitions. Sponsors, such as Florida Decides Healthcare and Smart & Safe Florida, claimed that HB 1205 would make it nearly impossible to get amendment initiatives on the ballot. In court hearing, attorneys debate palatability of new restrictions on citizens' initiatives 'Here, aside from demonstrating they have suffered an injury in fact, Plaintiffs' record only goes so far to show that the process of gathering signed petitions has become more expensive and less efficient, not that these post-petition-gathering regulations have severely burdened Plaintiffs from speaking such that the challenged regulations must survive heightened scrutiny to pass constitutional muster,' Walker wrote in his order. However, Walker agreed to temporarily halt a provision for one of the plaintiffs of the law that expanded the definition of racketeering to cover irregularities and fraud regarding the petition collection process, writing that the statute was unconstitutionally vague and allowed for arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. The block only applies to Jordan Simmons, a project director of the campaign to expand Medicaid. 'Mr. Simmons faces irreparable injury because the law forces him to choose between curtailing his First Amendment rights to engage in core political speech via petition circulation or risk arrest and prosecution for a felony charge that could result in up to thirty years in prison,' Walker wrote. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Florida Decides Healthcare framed Walker's order as a win in a press release despite his denial of most of their claims. 'While the Court did not grant every part of our motion for preliminary relief, this is far from the final word,' wrote its Executive Director Mitch Emerson. 'This ruling was an early, extraordinary step in the legal process—and we are optimistic about what comes next, both for the remaining parts of HB 1205 that we're challenging and for the future of citizen-led democracy in Florida.' In a message to the group's coalition partners after Walker issued the order, Ana-Christina Acosta, the organizing director, wrote that petition collection operations will continue regardless of what happens with the litigation. So far, Florida Decides Healthcare has gathered 18,867 valid signatures and Smart & Safe Florida has gathered 379,345 valid signatures, enough to trigger the Florida Supreme Court's review of the amendment summary that could appear on the ballot, according to the Florida Division of Elections. Sponsors of citizen-led initiatives need to get approval from the Florida Supreme Court on the clarity of the amendment summary, gather 880,062 valid signatures from at least half of the state's 28 congressional districts to appear on the ballot, and get at least 60% approval to pass. While the majority of voters approved recreational marijuana and abortion-rights amendments, both failed to cross the 60% threshold after Gov. Ron DeSantis deployed state resources to campaign against the proposed measures. Lawmakers passed HB 1205 this year, citing a need to eradicate fraud in the petition-gathering process in light of a January report published by the state's Office of Election Crimes and Security claiming that more than 100 representatives of the group attempting enshrine abortion access in the Florida Constitution last year committed crimes related to gathering petitions. Floridians Protecting Freedom denied the claims in the report but ultimately dropped its challenge to the fine the state imposed. Come July 1, the state will also require people collecting signatures and petitions to register with the Secretary of State. Under HB 1205, people convicted of felonies who haven't had their voting rights restored, non-U.S. citizens, and non-Florida residents can't collect signatures or petitions. Plaintiffs filed a second motion asking Walker to temporarily block those provisions, with Smart & Safe Florida stating that it would face a fine of $23.7 million because 474 of its trained petition circulators aren't Florida residents. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Florida ballot initiative law can continue, federal judge says
TALLAHASSEE — A federal judge on Wednesday largely denied a request from petition groups to block parts of a Florida law that changes how citizen-led amendments make it to the ballot. In passing the law earlier this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the bill's Republican sponsors said the petition process needed reform because it is riddled with fraud. But groups like Florida Decides Healthcare, which is trying to get an amendment that will expand Medicaid access on 2026 ballots, quickly sued, saying the new law stifles people's ability to use the petition process. Other groups, including the recreational marijuana campaign Smart & Safe Florida, joined the lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker largely denied the plaintiffs' request to block three sections of the new law. Plaintiffs had asked Walker to temporarily block a requirement that campaigns turn in all petitions within 10 days to county elections offices. They also contested changes that increased fines for organizations that turn in petitions late and that added new criminal penalties for filling in missing voter information. The plaintiffs argued that the law violates the First Amendment right to engage in political speech. But Walker, who was nominated to the bench by former President Barack Obama, said court precedent makes clear that the initiative process doesn't have to be the most user-friendly version possible. Walker said the challenging groups hadn't yet proven they were 'severely burdened' by the new law's requirement to turn petitions in within 10 days and the increased late fines. Instead, he said, 'the record shows that these provisions simply make the process of getting their proposed initiatives on the ballot more expensive and less efficient for Plaintiffs.' The marijuana and Medicaid expansion campaigns have said they've been affected by slowed petition collection and discouraged volunteers since the law took effect in early May. The groups hoping to qualify for the 2026 ballot need about 900,000 verified petitions by early next year. Out of all the groups' asks, Walker granted only one plaintiff an injunction on one point. Jordan Simmons, a project director for the Medicaid expansion group, challenged part of the law that includes election code violations for petition fraud in the racketeering statute. Walker sided with Simmons' argument that the racketeering law change was too vague. Despite Walker rejecting most of the Medicaid expansion groups' asks, Mitch Emerson, a spokesperson for Florida Decides Healthcare, called the ruling a 'major victory.' 'While the Court did not grant every part of our motion for preliminary relief, this is far from the final word,' Emerson said in a statement. 'This ruling was an early, extraordinary step in the legal process—and we are optimistic about what comes next, both for the remaining parts of HB 1205 that we're challenging and for the future of citizen-led democracy in Florida." Groups have for years used Florida's ballot initiative process as a way to pass changes to the state constitution that lawmakers have refused to put forward. Through petition collection, groups have gotten voters to approve things like medical marijuana, felon voter restoration and a $15 minimum wage. Last year, DeSantis used the power of his administration to successfully oppose two amendments put on the ballot through the petition process: the recreational pot amendment and one that would have protected abortion access. Months after both those measures failed, DeSantis' office suggested a draft bill that would have made petition collection virtually impossible. During the injunction hearing in May, Glenn Burhans, an attorney for Smart & Safe Florida — which sponsored a failed 2024 ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana and is hoping to get a similar amendment on 2026 ballots — said that he thought lawmakers passed the petition change bill because the marijuana measure 'is very popular.' The challenge to the new law is ongoing, and the amendment groups are seeking to block other provisions of the law in another request for a temporary injunction.
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Judge largely declines to block Florida law restricting ballot-initiative drives
A federal judge on Wednesday largely denied a request from petition groups to block parts of a Florida law that changes how citizen-led amendments make it to the ballot. In passing the law earlier this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the bill's Republican sponsors said the petition process needed reform because it is riddled with fraud. But groups like Florida Decides Healthcare, which is trying to get an amendment that will expand Medicaid access on 2026 ballots, quickly sued, saying the new law stifles people's ability to use the petition process. Other groups, including the recreational marijuana campaign Smart & Safe Florida, joined the lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker largely denied the plaintiffs' request to block three sections of the new law. Plaintiffs had asked Walker to temporarily block a requirement that campaigns turn in all petitions within 10 days to county elections offices. They also contested changes that increased fines for organizations that turn in petitions late and that added new criminal penalties for filling in missing voter information. The plaintiffs argued that the law violates the First Amendment right to engage in political speech. But Walker, who was nominated to the bench by former President Barack Obama, said court precedent makes clear that the initiative process doesn't have to be the most user-friendly version possible. Walker said the challenging groups hadn't yet proven they were 'severely burdened' by the new law's requirement to turn petitions in within 10 days and the increased late fines. Instead, he said, 'the record shows that these provisions simply make the process of getting their proposed initiatives on the ballot more expensive and less efficient for Plaintiffs.' The marijuana and Medicaid expansion campaigns have said they've been affected by slowed petition collection and discouraged volunteers since the law took effect in early May. The groups hoping to qualify for the 2026 ballot need about 900,000 verified petitions by early next year. Out of all the groups' asks, Walker granted only one plaintiff an injunction on one point. Jordan Simmons, a project director for the Medicaid expansion group, challenged part of the law that includes election code violations for petition fraud in the racketeering statute. Walker sided with Simmons' argument that the racketeering law change was too vague. Despite Walker rejecting most of the Medicaid expansion groups' asks, Mitch Emerson, a spokesperson for Florida Decides Healthcare, called the ruling a 'major victory.' 'While the Court did not grant every part of our motion for preliminary relief, this is far from the final word,' Emerson said in a statement. 'This ruling was an early, extraordinary step in the legal process—and we are optimistic about what comes next, both for the remaining parts of HB 1205 that we're challenging and for the future of citizen-led democracy in Florida.' Groups have for years used Florida's ballot initiative process as a way to pass changes to the state constitution that lawmakers have refused to put forward. Through petition collection, groups have gotten voters to approve things like medical marijuana, felon voter restoration and a $15 minimum wage. Last year, DeSantis used the power of his administration to successfully oppose two amendments put on the ballot through the petition process: the recreational pot amendment and one that would have protected abortion access. Months after both those measures failed, DeSantis' office suggested a draft bill that would have made petition collection virtually impossible. During the injunction hearing in May, Glenn Burhans, an attorney for Smart & Safe Florida — which sponsored a failed 2024 ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana and is hoping to get a similar amendment on 2026 ballots — said that he thought lawmakers passed the petition change bill because the marijuana measure 'is very popular.' The challenge to the new law is ongoing, and the amendment groups are seeking to block other provisions of the law in another request for a temporary injunction.
