Florida eyes further cracking down on ballot initiative process

Florida lawmakers could once again seek to make it harder for everyday citizens to change the state’s constitution in the wake of a ballot initiative this year that would enshrine access to abortion.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ election security office called for changes to the citizen petition process in a report last week claiming widespread fraud by people who collected signatures to put the measure on the ballot. While the report includes little data to back up many of its claims, it says the office has “a great deal of information” it plans to deploy as legislative proposals in the coming session.

It is “imperative that the state consider major reforms to the initiative petition process to prevent groups from doing this ever again in Florida,” the report said.

More changes to the state’s citizen petition process — made increasingly onerous by lawmakers through the years — could make it all the more difficult. They could also make it harder to revive the abortion initiative if it fails to muster the 60% threshold required for approval.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/elections/2024/10/17/florida-ballot-initiative-amendment-4-abortion-desantis/

Florida Republicans really don't like allowing the voters to have a way to bypass them and enable popular initiatives.