Headline: Anti-Abortion Advocates Sue Florida Officials Over Amendment 4 Vote
In a significant legal development, anti-abortion advocates have filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate votes already cast for Amendment 4, which aims to protect abortion access in Florida. The lawsuit targets Governor Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who are named as defendants alongside other parties.
Former Florida Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson represents the plaintiffs, four women from St. Lucie and Taylor counties, who argue that the amendment did not gather sufficient signatures to qualify for the November 5 ballot. They allege fraud in the petition-gathering process, a claim strongly denied by the amendment’s supporters, the group Floridians Protecting Freedom. This lawsuit comes just days before Election Day when many Floridians have already begun voting by mail and at early voting sites.
The plaintiffs are requesting that an Orange County state trial court nullify any votes already cast on the amendment, which needs 60% voter approval to pass. While the lawsuit has added prominent state leaders as defendants, Lawson asserts that these officials are named solely for jurisdictional purposes and are not accused of any wrongdoing.
Notably, DeSantis has taken an active stance against Amendment 4, deploying various state agencies to oppose it, and Moody previously argued before the state Supreme Court that the amendment’s ballot language was too ambiguous. According to a state report, roughly 16.4% of the signatures collected for the amendment were deemed invalid, although over 997,000 signatures had been verified earlier this year by local election supervisors.
As the legal battle unfolds, the future of abortion access in Florida remains in question as voters head to the polls.
Source
Photo credit floridaphoenix.com