10 hours ago
Ballot measure petitioners race against the clock before new restrictions
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A controversial new law making it tougher for citizen-led amendments to get on the ballot will go into effect next week.
This weekend, a political action committee organized a statewide effort to collect as many signatures as possible for several ballot measure proposals before House Bill 1205 goes into effect.
Nick Biscardi is the political action chair with the Hillsborough County LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus.
'We are not going to stand for it,' Biscardi said.
Biscardi is leading Tampa Bay's efforts for a petition surge this weekend. He's helping Florida Constitutional Amendments Network, which is the PAC behind the statewide drive.
'We've seen the amendments that have passed here in Florida because of these petitions.
Biscardi mentioned increasing the state minimum wage and restoring voting rights for some felons as two examples. However, changes to collecting and delivering petitions for future ballot measures go into effect on Tuesday.
'DeSantis and the republicans in Florida are doing everything they can to restrict the rights that we have to actually get amendments on the ballot,' Biscardi said.
The governor called for changes following claims of fraudulent petitions during campaigns to expand access to abortion and legalize recreational marijuana.
Florida Republican Party Chair Evan Power said the new law is about preventing fraudulent signatures and outside influence.
'This gives us the ability to say you must be eligible to vote in Florida in order to collect petitions, so we can guarantee those petitions are fair, accurate, and are collected by Floridians,' Power said.
The new law states that only Florida residents who are U.S. citizens can collect signatures or deliver petitions. If they handle more than 25 petitions, that will require registration with the Secretary of State's office, and after a petition is signed, that means a voter has 10 days instead of 30 to turn it in. There could be fines or even criminal charges for breaking this law.
'Here in Florida, we have a legislature that passes laws, and if you really want to change a law, you should advocate to elect people to change that law in Tallahassee,' Power said.
This month, a federal judge struck down a key GOP provision in the law.
The judge didn't allow the law to expand the definition of 'racketeering' to include some petition gathering efforts. However, the judge is allowing nearly all of HB1205 to become law.
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