Backroom Briefing: Weekly political notes from The News Service of Florida
By Jim Turner ©2024 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — While supporters of proposed constitutional amendments face stringent requirements for gathering petition signatures, Gov. Ron DeSantis contends additional steps could be needed.
As he crusades against proposals on the November ballot that would allow recreational use of marijuana and enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution, DeSantis this week suggested more anti-fraud measures are needed.
“There’s a lot of money that’s at stake here,” DeSantis said Monday during an appearance in Orlando. “People make money off the petition process. There’s an incentive to commit fraud. The Legislature tried to address it, but I don’t think that they’ve addressed it adequately.”
Backers of proposed constitutional amendments had to submit at least 891,523 valid petition signatures to get initiatives on this year’s ballot.
The Republican-controlled Legislature and DeSantis in recent years have banned a longstanding practice of paying petition gatherers based on the number of signatures they collect. They also have required petition forms to include information identifying petition gatherers, who are required to register with the state.
DeSantis’ comment came as he responded to a question about the recent arrest of a petition gatherer amid an investigation by the state’s Office of Election Crimes and Security.
Last week, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced that Colton Brady, 34 of Fayetteville, Ga., was arrested Sept. 5 on eight counts of petition fraud crimes, including criminal use of a dead person’s information and submitting false voter registration information.
An agency news release said Brady’s arrest was tied to “petition fraud on the personal use of marijuana initiative” and that Brady submitted 71 invalid forms.
But the Smart & Safe Florida political committee, which is leading efforts to pass this year’s recreational marijuana initiative, said Brady wasn’t part of their ballot drive, despite the possible inference by the state agency. The committee said Brady collected signatures for another marijuana measure. The Smart & Safe initiative will appear on the November ballot as Amendment 3.
“That initiative (involving Brady) was completely separate and independent from Amendment 3 and these signatures were not related to Amendment 3,” Smart & Safe Florida said in a statement. “This individual was never paid by Smart & Safe Florida nor do we have any record of affiliation with him.”
DeSantis backed the FDLE announcement as “accurate.”
“This was somebody who had submitted fraudulent petitions, I think, during the 2022 (election) cycle. That’s a fraud. I mean, we’re not going to turn our backs on that,” DeSantis said.
PARKS FIGHT TEED UP FOR 2025
While the issue stalled after an outcry, opponents of a proposal to build golf courses, resort-style lodges and pickleball courts in state parks have started to rally the troops for the 2025 legislative session.
Friends of the Everglades Executive Director Eve Samples pointed to a need for digital and in-person advocacy in Tallahassee during the session, which will start March 4.
“Fortunately, people power won the first round, so we don’t have to sue right now,” Samples said during an online event. “And if the people stay engaged, I think we could avoid that potential.”
One goal is legislation that would clarify how state-protected land could be used, with the hope of drawing support from Republican lawmakers who voiced opposition to the now-shelved Department of Environmental Protection proposal — dubbed the “Great Outdoors Initiative.”
Last month, DeSantis sought to distance himself by announcing the proposal for nine state parks wouldn’t advance this year.
“If they’re willing to do this on state parks that Floridians just hold so dear, then how about our wildlife areas … our water management district lands, all of our other public lands (that) I will remind our audience are paid for by public tax dollars,” Casey Darling Kniffin, Florida Wildlife Federation conservation policy director, said.
Jessica Namath, a Tequesta resident who helped lead opposition to part of the proposal that would have added golf at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, said opponents of the initiative hoped DeSantis would have said, “This is not coming back under my watch.” Instead, Namath said, “that’s not what we heard.”
COLLEGE PREP
State university system Chancellor Ray Rodrigues said Florida universities are bracing for pro-Palestinian protests on the Oct. 7 anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
“Over the course of the summer, these groups across the nation that are organizing the student protest were meeting, they were organizing, and they were learning from the mistakes they made in their previous demonstrations over the course of the fall and spring semesters last year,” Rodrigues told members of the university system’s Board of Governors during a meeting Wednesday in Tampa. “We anticipate that Oct. 7 will be a day full of activity on our campuses. I know our presidents are preparing for that.”
SOCIAL MEDIA POST OF THE WEEK
“The State of Florida will be conducting its own investigation regarding the attempted assassination at Trump International Golf Club. The people deserve the truth about the would be assassin and how he was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current GOP nominee.” — Gov. Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis).
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