1). “Missouri Supreme Court keeps abortion rights measure on November ballot, ending challenge”, Updated Sep 10, 2024, Jonathan Shorman & Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, at < https://www.kansascity.com/
2). “Florida law enforcers are investigating the state's abortion ballot initiative. Here's what to know: State police in Florida are showing up at the homes of voters who signed a petition to get an abortion rights amendment on the ballot”, Sep 10, 2024, Kate Payne / REPORT FOR AMERICA, Associated Press, ABC News, at < https://abcnews.go.com/US/
3). “Florida House passes election police bill, sends it to gov”, Mar 9, 2022, Anthony Izaguirre, AP (formerly Associated Press), at < https://apnews.com/article/
~~ recommended by dmorista ~~
Introduction: BTW we should not forget that today is the 23rd anniversary of the most ambitious and far-reaching terror and disinformation operation certainly in U.S. History, but probably in World History as well. Whatever one thinks of 9-11 it made it possible for the dark forces in the U.S. to push their far-right agendas, domestic and global, to a degree that was never possible before. But the immediacy of the current situation overshadows 9-11 at this point.
The American People, as represented by grass roots organizing in 11 states have been using the State Constitutional Amendment process, to recover or reinforce their now battered and greatly reduced access to Abortion and other Reproductive Health Care. But the undoubtedly, the most important, among those 11 states, are Missouri and Florida.
As Item 1)., “Missouri Supreme Court ….”, points out, the Missouri State Supreme Court ruled yesterday afternoon that Amendment 3 will remain on the November 5th Election Ballot. This is despite the fact that the State of Missouri's Secretary of State, Jay Ashcroft (the son of John Ashcroft), officially decertified Amendment 3 and removed it from the Secretary of State's website. Missouri state agencies and officials, controlled by the Republican Power Structure, have attempted to disrupt and end the Amendment Process. This included an attempt to claim that the cost of the Amendment to the state would be $51 Billion. The State Treasurer, an African-American Republican, would not sign off on that absurd level noting that his position required that he exercise a reasonable level of judgement. The actual final figure of $51 Thousand, or one millionth of the amount that Ashcroft and other Republican Forced-Pregnancy / Forced-Birth tried to place in the Ballot description. It appears that Amendment 3 will pass and become state law in Missouri, and perhaps it might even result in some vulnerable Republican office holders being defeated as well.
If anything, the situation in Florida is more important and more ominous than that in Missouri. Item 2)., “Florida law enforcers are investigating ….”, points out that Florida, under the direction of Ron DeSantis, is actually using police; to attempt to intimidate people who signed the original petition that enabled Proposition 4 to be placed on the ballot, and to try to decertify the signatures of thousands of people who supported the ballot proposal. This article did not point out an important detail that I heard discussed somewhere (perhaps on the Thom Hartmann Show); Florida Law requires that some threshold number of signature be collected in various regions of the state. The right-wing's moves to seize and examine petition signature records indicates that they hope to disqualify enough signatures to push the proportion of signtures per population below the state standard in some regions. That would be followed by an appeal to the ultra-reactionary Florida Supreme Court (5 of 7 of whom are dedicated Forced-Pregnancy / Forced-Birth operatives appointed by DeSantis, and the 6th is married to a far-right attorney who wrote much of the appeals briefs used against Proposition 4. I don't know how late into the election season the Florida Supreme Court could act without running afoul of the deadlines to prepare ballots and the like, but they would love to nix Proposition 4.
De Santis, in 2022, established a new police force, to impose his agenda on Florida's election process. As Item 3)., “Florida House passes ….”, pointed out, when the new law was passed:
“The bill would create an Office of Election Crimes and Security under the Florida Department of State that would review fraud allegations and conduct preliminary investigations. DeSantis would be required to appoint a group of special officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement who would be tasked with pursuing the election law violations.” These legal regulations became state law. The first issue it was used for was to facilitate about 20 cases in which former felons, who had been issued voter ID cards by the parole and probation offices under the rules of the Proposition that restored Felon voting rights, were arrested and subjected to “show trials”.
The current situation as elucidated in Item 2)., is that:
“Florida law currently bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant. If approved by 60% of voters, the ballot initiative known as Amendment 4 would ensure that abortions are legal until the fetus is viable, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.
“The proposed amendment says 'no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.' It provides for one exception, which is already in the state constitution — that parents must be notified before their minor children can get an abortion.
“To qualify for the November ballot, supporters had to collect more than 891,000 petition signatures from Florida voters. In January, state elections officials confirmed the campaign had cleared that milestone, ultimately submitting more than 997,000 verified signatures — 100,000 more than they needed. That margin is far more than the 36,000 signatures state officials say they're probing as part of a broad review by the Florida Department of State to investigate alleged petition fraud.”
The actions of the DeSantis Regime are contrary to any previous effort to resist a ballot proposal the ruling class did not want passed. Specifically in that they are trying to overturn a ballot proposal that is far more advanced in its path along the process than ever before.
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Missouri Supreme Court keeps abortion rights measure on November ballot, ending challenge
Missouri voters will decide on Nov. 5 whether to overturn the state’s abortion ban after the state Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared away a final effort by anti-abortion activists to block a vote on a landmark proposal enshrining a right to abortion in the state constitution.
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the proposed amendment to the state constitution – called Amendment 3 – will remain on the general election ballot. The decision came less than three hours before a 5 p.m. deadline to finalize the ballot.
The order sets the stage for a final sprint toward Election Day by both supporters and opponents of one of the most potentially consequential ballot measures in Missouri history. The amendment would restore abortion access for the first time since the U.S. Supreme Court ended the federal right to abortion in 2022 while going further, creating an overall right to reproductive freedom that would prevent any future bans on birth control or in vitro fertilization.
Missouri could be the first state – or among the first – where voters overturn an abortion ban since the fall of Roe v. Wade if voters approve the amendment. Eleven states, including neighboring Nebraska, are set to vote in November on measures protecting abortion rights.
A successful vote by abortion rights supporters in Missouri could also alter the political dynamics of the state, where anti-abortion Republicans have been firmly in control for years. GOP lawmakers went as far as mounting an unsuccessful effort over the past two years to raise the voter threshold for changing the state constitution in a bid to thwart the measure.
“Today’s decision is a victory for both direct democracy and reproductive freedom in Missouri. The Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling ensures that Amendment 3, the Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative, will appear on the November ballot, giving voters—not politicians—the power to decide on this critical issue,” Rachel Sweet, campaign manager of Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the primary group supporting the measure, said in a statement.
Shortly after the ruling, leaders from the campaign held a celebratory press conference on the steps of the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City. “This is what democracy looks like,” they chanted in unison.
Polling conducted last month by Saint Louis University and YouGov found the amendment was on the path toward passage, with 52% of respondents supportive of the measure.
The last-minute courtroom battle centered on an arcane dispute over whether the amendment sufficiently described what laws it would repeal, fulfilling a requirement for ballot measures. Abortion opponents argued it did not, while abortion rights supporters said opponents were misreading the requirement.
Mary Catherine Martin, an attorney at the conservative Thomas More Society who led the legal challenge against the measure, in a statement called the Missouri Supreme Court’s decision “deeply unfortunate” and encouraged voters to educate themselves on the proposal.
“The Missouri Supreme Court’s decision to allow Amendment 3 to remain on the November ballot is a failure to protect voters by not upholding state laws that ensure voters are fully informed going into the ballot box,” Martin said.
Earlier in the day, a group of anti-abortion activists had swarmed around the steps of the state Supreme Court building. The group had dwindled to only a handful after the ruling came down. One of them was Kathy Forck from New Bloomfield, one of the plaintiffs who challenged the amendment in court.
“We are more determined than ever to defeat Amendment 3,” Forck said. “We need to let the Missouri voters know what this Amendment 3 really will do. And I think anybody who knows what it really is going to do would vote no.”
The state’s seven-member high court released a one-page order requiring the amendment to appear on the Nov. 5 ballot, but didn’t immediately issue a majority opinion, leaving its reasoning unclear.
“Opinions to follow,” the order, signed by Chief Justice Mary Russell, said.
The order capped a whirlwind four-day period that put the amendment’s place on the ballot in doubt.
On Friday night, Cole County Circuit Court Judge Christopher Limbaugh ruled against the measure after anti-abortion activists filed a lawsuit seeking to toss it from the ballot. Limbaugh, an appointee of Republican Gov. Mike Parson and a cousin to the late conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, found the amendment didn’t comply with a requirement that ballot measures outline what state laws they would repeal.
Lawyers for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom swiftly appealed the decision to the Missouri Court of Appeals, which in turn handed the case to the Missouri Supreme Court.
“By a majority vote of this Court, the circuit court’s judgment is reversed,” the order said.
Tori Schafer, the lead attorney representing the abortion rights campaign from the ACLU of Missouri, told reporters on Tuesday that Limbaugh’s decision had sided with politicians and threatened “to grind our system of constitutional initiative petition to a halt at the last minute, leaving in its wake the disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of voters.”
Martin told reporters she felt voters would not approve the amendment if they knew of its full effect.
“I think if people understood its effects, no one would vote for it,” said Martin.
The amendment would prohibit the General Assembly from banning abortion until fetal viability, defined in the measure as the point in pregnancy when there’s a significant chance the fetus can survive outside the womb without extraordinary medical measures. The amendment allows but does not require, lawmakers to restrict abortion after viability; the GOP-controlled legislature would almost certainly pass a ban on abortions late in pregnancy.
Any post-viability ban would be required to allow at least three exceptions – for the life, physical and mental health of the woman.
‘Contempt’ for Ashcroft?
On Monday, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a Republican and the state’s chief election official, claimed to decertify Amendment 3 altogether, injecting another element of chaos into the legal fight. The amendment was also removed from the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office’s website.
The decertification came just weeks after Ashcroft found that the hundreds of thousands of signatures submitted to place the measure on the ballot were sufficient.
Ashcroft, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor this year and staunchly opposes abortion, has consistently attempted to throw up roadblocks in the amendment’s path. Last year he released an official summary of the measure that an appeals court threw out as misleading. Weeks ago, he tried again, releasing similar “fair ballot language” describing the proposal that was later struck down by a Cole County judge.
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom has asked the state Supreme Court to hold Ashcroft in contempt. Shortly after Tuesday’s ruling came down, the amendment reappeared on Ashcroft’s official website.
“I am disappointed in today’s court ruling and curious to read the opinion to see how they came to that conclusion,” Ashcroft said in a statement. “I would encourage every Missourian, before they vote, to read the actual text of this amendment.”
Missouri Solicitor General Joshua Divine, who represented Ashcroft, told the court that Ashcroft was never under any court orders that barred him from removing the measure from the ballot.
In her order, Russell overruled the motion to hold Ashcroft in contempt. Any action taken to reverse Ashcroft’s previous certification “is a nullity and of no effect,” she wrote.
Argument over amendment
During oral arguments before the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning, Martin said the amendment would repeal multiple state laws and should have been disclosed by the proposal. She focused on the state law that bans abortion, arguing the amendment directly contradicts the law and would effectively repeal it.
“These two provisions cannot coexist. One completely repeals the other,” Martin said.
Martin said the wording of the amendment “does not reveal, on its face, what it’s doing.” She claimed that it would mislead voters.
Judge W. Brent Powell appeared skeptical of some of the case law cited by the attorneys against the amendment. “I’ve not found any cases that analyzed whether and when there was a constitutional provision that may conflict with the statute,” Powell said.
Chuck Hatfield, an attorney representing Missourians for Constitutional Freedom characterized the lawsuit against the amendment as “political complaints” and an effort to derail democracy. He said a plain reading of the requirement to disclose what laws would be repealed by the ballot measure doesn’t mandate listing what laws would be repealed by implication.
“Constitutional amendments … do not repeal statutes ever,” Hatfield told the court.
While Ashcroft certified the amendment for the November ballot just weeks ago, the text of the amendment proposal has been known since 2023 as supporters gathered signatures. Hatfield indicated that meant that those challenging the measure now have known about the purported problem for over a year, but didn’t file a lawsuit until 19 days ago.
“Their goals are obvious in the timing of their challenges,” Hatfield said.
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Florida law enforcers are investigating the state's abortion ballot initiative. Here's what to know
State police in Florida are showing up at the homes of voters who signed a petition to get an abortion rights amendment on the ballot
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — State police in Florida are showing up at the homes of voters who signed a petition to get an abortion rights amendment on the ballot in November as part of a state probe into alleged petition fraud.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has defended police visiting the homes of Floridians who signed the petition. Critics say the investigation is a brazen attempt to intimidate voters in the country’s third-largest state from protecting access to abortion — and that the probe comes long after a deadline to challenge petition signatures has passed.
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, a professor of constitutional and elections law at the Stetson University College of Law, said she doesn't know of a legal precedent the state could use to challenge the signatures after the deadline.
“The Florida Supreme Court already allowed the abortion question to go on the ballot in April of 2024,” Torres-Spelliscy told The Associated Press. “Thus this effort to question signatures at this point seems far too late.”
Here’s what to know about Florida’s abortion ballot initiative and the state probe into the petitions behind it.
Florida law currently bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant. If approved by 60% of voters, the ballot initiative known as Amendment 4 would ensure that abortions are legal until the fetus is viable, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.
The proposed amendment says “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.” It provides for one exception, which is already in the state constitution — that parents must be notified before their minor children can get an abortion.
To qualify for the November ballot, supporters had to collect more than 891,000 petition signatures from Florida voters. In January, state elections officials confirmed the campaign had cleared that milestone, ultimately submitting more than 997,000 verified signatures — 100,000 more than they needed. That margin is far more than the 36,000 signatures state officials say they're probing as part of a broad review by the Florida Department of State to investigate alleged petition fraud.
In April, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the ballot measure would be allowed to go before voters in November, rejecting the state attorney general’s argument that the proposed amendment is deceptive and that voters won’t realize how broadly it will expand access to abortions.
According to a letter from Deputy Secretary of State Brad McVay that was shared with the AP, the state’s Office of Election Crimes and Security is “concerned” about allegations that forged signatures were submitted and then verified as valid by supervisors of elections.
Police are showing up at some voters' homes to question them about signing a petition to get the abortion initiative on the ballot. And state officials have sent requests to county-level elections supervisors to gather thousands of petition signatures for review as part of an investigation into alleged petition fraud, according to reporting by the Tampa Bay Times.
DeSantis defended the investigation, saying police have found evidence that some of the supposed voter signatures were from dead people.
“They’re investigating this, as they should," DeSantis said Tuesday. "Our tolerance for voter fraud in the state of Florida is zero. That’s the only thing that you can do is to have zero tolerance.”
Voter fraud is extremely rare, typically occurs in isolated instances and is generally detected. An AP investigation of the 2020 presidential election found fewer than 475 potential cases of voter fraud out of 25.5 million ballots cast in the six states where former President Donald Trump and his allies disputed his loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.
DeSantis signed a bill in 2022 to create a police force dedicated to pursuing voter fraud and other election crimes, embracing a top Republican priority following Trump’s false claims that his reelection was stolen.
The Office of Election Crimes and Security reviews fraud allegations and conducts preliminary investigations and can make referrals to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
In 2022, the state announced criminal charges against 20 people for illegally voting in 2020, in an opening salvo for the the new election crimes unit. All of the individuals had prior felony convictions that left them ineligible to vote, but all had been issued voter id cards by the state, according to reporting by the Tampa Bay Times.
There are more than 13.6 million active registered voters in Florida.
Supporters of the amendment have labeled the investigation as “political interference.” They fear it's a late-stage effort to try to pull the amendment from the ballot.
Torres-Spelliscy, the Stetson law professor, told the AP there's no legal precedent for the state to have the amendment struck from the ballot this late in the process. Local elections supervisors have said they've already begun sending their ballot language to the printers.
Torres-Spelliscy pointed to a previous decision by the state supreme court to keep a constitutional amendment on the ballot in a ruling that came just days before the 2016 election. The court rejected a request to invalidate the solar energy ballot initiative known as Amendment 1, despite media reports a month before the election that industry insiders had crafted the measure to mislead voters.
“Like the U.S. Supreme Court, the Florida Supreme Court has not been following its own precedents recently,” Torres-Spelliscy said. “But if they were being consistent with prior precedents including keeping Amendment 1 on the ballot in 2016, then the Florida Supreme Court should also keep Amendment 4 on the ballot in 2024.”
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Florida House passes election police bill, sends it to gov
State Rep. Allison Tant speaks on a bill during a legislative session at the Florida State Capitol, Wednesday, March 9, 2022, in Tallahassee, Fla. Florida lawmakers are set to pass a voting law package that would create a police force dedicated to pursuing election crimes, a priority of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Florida Rep. Ben Diamond speaks about an election bill during a legislative session at the Florida State Capitol, Wednesday, March 9, 2022, in Tallahassee, Fla. Florida lawmakers are set to pass a voting law package that would create a police force dedicated to pursuing election crimes, a priority of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
State Rep. Michele Rayner speaks against a bill during a legislative session at the Florida State Capitol, Wednesday, March 9, 2022, in Tallahassee, Fla. Florida lawmakers are set to pass a voting law package that would create a police force dedicated to pursuing election crimes, a priority of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
State Rep. Ralph Massullo speaks about an election bill during a legislative session at the Florida State Capitol, Wednesday, March 9, 2022, in Tallahassee, Fla. Florida lawmakers are set to pass a voting law package that would create a police force dedicated to pursuing election crimes, a priority of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Florida Rep. Daniel Perez speaks for passage of a bill during a legislative session at the Florida State Capitol, Wednesday, March 9, 2022, in Tallahassee, Fla. Florida lawmakers passed a voting law package that would create a police force dedicated to pursuing election crimes, a priority of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Florida Representatives Daniel Perez, left, and Blaise Ingoglia celebrate after the passage of a bill during a legislative session at the Florida State Capitol, Wednesday, March 9, 2022, in Tallahassee, Fla. Florida lawmakers passed a voting law package that would create a police force dedicated to pursuing election crimes, a priority of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida lawmakers on Wednesday passed a voting law package that would create a police force dedicated to pursuing election crimes, a proposal pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The GOP-controlled House approved the measure on a party lines vote with Republicans in support. The bill now heads to the governor’s office, where it is expected to be signed into law.
DeSantis, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, called for an election police unit in a speech last year where he referenced unspecified cases of fraud. Such allegations have become popular in parts of the GOP that have embraced former President Donald Trump’s false claims that his reelection was stolen due to widespread fraud.
Voter fraud is rare and generally detected. An Associated Press investigation of every potential case of voter fraud in the six battleground states disputed by Trump — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — found fewer than 475 cases out of 25.5 million ballots cast. There is also consensus among election officials and experts that there was no fraud that could have impacted results in the last presidential election.
The bill would create an Office of Election Crimes and Security under the Florida Department of State that would review fraud allegations and conduct preliminary investigations. DeSantis would be required to appoint a group of special officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement who would be tasked with pursuing the election law violations.
State law currently allows the governor to appoint officers to investigate violations of election law but does not require him to do so.
“You’re not going to maintain the gold standard of election integrity if you don’t constantly address the different ways that criminals will look to exploit loopholes in the system,” said Rep. Tommy Gregory, a Republican.
Over about two hours of debate Wednesday, Democrats argued that the measure would weaken confidence in the electoral system, given the rare occurrence of voter fraud.
“What bills like this do is say there’s a problem with our elections system that we’re trying to solve,” said Rep. Fentrice Driskell, a Democrat. “It perpetuates this concept that they shouldn’t be able to trust what happens in government. This is a monster that will eat us alive if we let it.”
The proposal also would increase penalties for the collection of completed ballots by a third party, often referred to as ballot harvesting, to a felony. It would raise fines for certain election law violations and election supervisors would need to more frequently conduct maintenance of their voter lists, under the measure.
Critics have said the bill is intended as a way for DeSantis to appease Republicans who believe the 2020 Election results were fraudulent and that it is unnecessary, noting that local prosecutors can handle fraud cases.
“It is very clearly an attempt to satiate a certain sector of the base that has been bombarded with misinformation about the 2020 Election and the Big Lie,” said Brad Ashwell, Florida state director of the advocacy group All Voting is Local.
Trump’s false claims of fraud have led to a wave of voting restrictions in Republican-controlled states.
Last year, DeSantis signed a bill that put new rules on ballot drop boxes and required a driver’s license number, state ID number or last four digits of a Social Security number to request a mail ballot, among other things. That law is the subject of a federal trial after a challenge from voting rights groups.
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