Based on the findings of s state report, plaintiffs allege election fraud in the gathering of signatures for the measure.
Long after ballots were printed, and just weeks before the Nov. 5 election, an abortion-related citizen initiative to amend the Florida Constitution is in legal jeopardy over alleged fraud in the gathering of signatures.
Days after evidence of the alleged misconduct surfaced, four state residents filed a civil lawsuit asking an Orange County circuit court judge to strike the “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion,” known as Amendment 4, from the November ballot and declare it null and void.
The proposed amendment reads, “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”
A 60 percent majority vote is required for the ballot measures to pass, which would make abortion a constitutional right in Florida.
On Oct. 11, an interim report by the Florida Office of Election Crimes and Security (OECS) revealed that the Amendment 4 ballot initiative had possibly failed to garner the required number of legitimate petition signatures to appear on the ballot.
An OECS investigation of the measure’s petitions in Osceola, Palm Beach, and