Dear Friend,
I don’t use these words lightly, but the State of Florida has engaged in police-state measures in an attempt to stop us from restoring reproductive freedom this November.
It has been reported this week that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s administration has launched an “investigation” into the signatures supporting Amendment 4, the constitutional ballot amendment that would restore access to abortion care in our state.
Petition organizers (this includes many of you!) worked hard to collect over 900,000 signatures, ensuring that this amendment would be placed on the ballot this November.
Now, months later, the state is calling thousands of these verified signatures into question, leading law enforcement officers to visit the homes of Floridians who signed the petition.
These stories are chilling. Multiple residents in Lee County have reported being visited by law enforcement following up on their petition signatures. Fort Myers resident Isaac Menasche shared in a Facebook post Wednesday that a “detective investigating petition fraud” had come to his home. “I had indeed signed a petition seeking to have the right to an abortion placed on the ballot in Florida. I remembered doing so and the circumstances surrounding it,” wrote Menasche, noting that he doesn’t usually sign petitions and felt intimidated and shaken by the experience.
At the same time, Supervisors in Hillsborough, Orange, Palm Beach, Osceola, Alachua, and Broward counties have been requested to gather around 36,000 signatures for state review, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
One supervisor with 16 years of experience told the Times that the state’s request was entirely unprecedented. Not only had the state requested signatures that had already been verified, but they did so for a validated petition, not a rejected petition, which are typically the basis of fraud investigations.
This behavior is unhinged and undemocratic, and it’s happening right here in Florida. We can’t let these tactics go unchallenged. Now more than ever, your voice matters.
This November, your vote can protect reproductive rights, preserve democracy, and push back against those who want to silence us. We need every person in our community to show up, whether it’s through voting, volunteering, or talking to neighbors and friends about the issues that matter.
I encourage you to stand strong and get involved in this election. Your voice and your rights are on the line, and we have so many ways for you to fight back:
- First, get involved with the Yes On 4 campaign via this link.
- Second, we send out a volunteer newsletter every Sunday that includes upcoming campaign events. You can sign up for that newsletter at this link.
- Finally, we have upcoming community gatherings that you can learn more about via this link.
Please join us in fighting back for a better and brighter Florida.
Onward,
