{"id":320408,"date":"2024-10-18T08:56:56","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T13:56:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=320408"},"modified":"2024-10-17T18:00:07","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T23:00:07","slug":"florida-100-fraud-investigations-amendment-4-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/florida-100-fraud-investigations-amendment-4-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida opens 100+ fraud investigations into pro-abortion Amendment 4 campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

(Liberty Counsel<\/a>) The Florida Office of Election Crimes & Security (OECS) has opened more than 100 investigations into potentially fraudulent signatures used to help get the extreme and deceptive abortion Amendment 4<\/a> on the November ballot.<\/p>\n

According to a recent 348-page interim report<\/a> released by the OECS, state officials are investigating complaints that point to at least 35 paid signature gatherers who submitted nearly 37,000 petitions with suspected voter signature forgeries. These paid signature gatherers are associated with \u201cFloridians Protecting Freedom\u201d (FPF), the pro-abortion group that sponsored Amendment 4.<\/p>\n

The detailed report states these allegations may affect more than 1,500 voters across 35 counties. The report\u2019s cover letter, signed by Florida Deputy Secretary of State for Legal Affairs & Election Integrity Brad McVay, shares details of how state officials were \u201cinundated with complaints involving FPF and its agents\u201d between late 2023 and early 2024, which included allegations that the paid FPF petitioners used signatures from dead people, used non-matching signatures, forged voter signatures, and used personal identifying information without consent. McVay also notes that two of FPF\u2019s paid associates have already been arrested, charged, convicted, and sentenced for felonies involving election fraud, such as forging voter signatures and submitting invalid petitions.<\/p>\n

The letter reads, \u201cIn addition to the arrests, OECS has, to date, opened well more than 100 preliminary criminal investigations into individual paid petition circulators and organizations involved in the collection of petitions on behalf of FPF. Given the credibility of the allegations, OECS has referred over a hundred individual FPF cases to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), which is actively pursuing dozens of criminal investigations together with the office of statewide prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ: Florida doctors alert public about Amendment 4: \u2018It\u2019s downright dangerous\u2019<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The letter reveals that the OECS became \u201cincreasingly concerned\u201d throughout 2024 after an analysis of statewide data showed that a significant number of \u201cknown fraudsters\u201d had submitted petitions counted across the state. The report notes these petitions were \u201cmistakenly verified\u201d by some counties which failed to adhere to Florida\u2019s signature matching standards. In addition, the OECS stated it had also received \u201ccredible allegations\u201d that some of FPF\u2019s paid circulators were incentivized by being paid per signature \u2013 a third-degree felony in Florida. The analysis also shows some of the paid petition circulators had criminal histories and were not Florida residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach of these petitions could correspond to a Floridian who (unbeknownst to him or her) is a victim of felony election fraud,\u201d wrote McVay. \u201cThis illegal scheme is likely driving the petition fraud outlined above. If a circulator is paid per signature, circulators are incentivized to forge as many signatures as possible to make a quick and easy buck.\u201d<\/p>\n

McVay also noted that FPF was recently fined $328,000 for election law violations and has already paid $22,000 in additional civil penalties.<\/p>\n

In the report, OECS makes several recommendations to the state\u2019s executive branch and legislature to prevent future election fraud. OECS suggests requiring paid petition circulators be Florida residents and making convicted felons ineligible for these paid positions.<\/p>\n

FPF needed a minimum of 891,523 signatures to get Amendment 4 on the ballot. The group collected<\/a>\u00a0997,035, meaning that more than 105,000 signatures would need to be found as fraudulent in order to disqualify Amendment 4 from the ballot or later void it from taking effect if voters were to approve it.<\/p>\n

READ: FACT CHECK: Is a Florida Amendment 4 ad about cancer and abortion spreading misinformation?<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

On Tuesday, November 5, 2024, Florida voters will have a chance to reject or ratify\u00a0Amendment 4, which is titled \u201cAmendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion.\u201d Amending the state\u2019s constitution requires approval by a 60 percent majority.<\/p>\n

Amendment 4\u00a0reads<\/a>:\u00a0\u201cNo law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient\u2019s health, as determined by the patient\u2019s healthcare provider.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amendment 4 would make abortion a constitutional right in Florida up to birth at any time for any reason. If passed, the misleading amendment would then nullify Florida\u2019s six-week \u201cheartbeat\u201d law, invalidate parental consent laws allowing minors unfettered access to abortion independently of their parents, and would also invalidate all health and safety regulations protecting women and girls during abortion procedures. Specifically, it would remove the physician requirement that mandates only licensed physicians are to perform abortions.<\/p>\n

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver stated, \u201cAmendment 4 was already extreme and deceptive, but now it even appears tainted with allegations of fraud. Voters should understand that Amendment 4 will allow abortion up to and during birth when the baby can feel pain, remove all health and safety regulations that protect women and girls during abortion procedures, override parental consent laws, and require Floridians to fund abortions. There is no place for fraud or deception when amending a constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: This press release was originally published by Liberty Counsel.<\/em><\/p>\n

Urge Walmart, Costco, Kroger, and other major chains to resist pressure to dispense the abortion pill<\/i><\/b><\/i><\/b><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Liberty Counsel) The Florida Office of Election Crimes & Security (OECS) has opened more than 100 investigations into potentially fraudulent signatures used to help get the extreme and deceptive abortion Amendment 4 on the November ballot. According to a recent 348-page interim report released by the OECS, state officials are investigating complaints that point to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":686,"featured_media":320409,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7077],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nFlorida opens 100+ fraud investigations into pro-abortion Amendment 4 campaign<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"State officials are investigating complaints that 35+ signature gatherers submitted nearly 37k petitions with suspected signature forgeries.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/florida-100-fraud-investigations-amendment-4-campaign\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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