Bill Cotterell: Your tax money at work—politically

Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried is blasting the DeSantis administration’s efforts to defeat Amendment 4.

There’s nothing new or surprising about a governor influencing a referendum on a constitutional amendment, but Gov. Ron DeSantis has trampled some ethical and legal lines in trying to torpedo the abortion proposal on Florida’s November ballot.

Amendment 4 would override the law DeSantis signed that essentially forbids abortion after the sixth week of gestation. Abortion-rights forces have had a winning streak in ballot fights in several states over the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Roe v. Wade precedent, and Florida is among 10 states voting on abortion initiatives this year.

Polls have shown strong support for the Florida amendment, but the opposition only needs 40 percent of the statewide vote to defeat it. To do that, DeSantis and the anti-abortion forces are running a campaign of deception, cheating and intimidation.

We see TV ads and mass mailings, for instance, claiming that restoring state laws to the situation in the 50 years of Roe would mean no health and safety regulation of abortion, end parental notice when minors seek the procedures and put women in danger of unsanitary conditions—not even requiring real physicians to do the job.

All of those horrors weren’t happening before the U.S. Supreme Court turned abortion law back to the states or before DeSantis signed the six-week ban, but the anti-4 activists claim it will be open season on babies if we amend the Constitution.

For reasons known only to DeSantis—although we can speculate—the state has its election cops asking citizens if they really signed those petitions that got Amendment 4 on the ballot. It’s doubtful the state thinks it can disqualify enough signatures to cancel the referendum, so the best explanation for this is a little intimidation: Gotta protect democracy by letting folks know we’re watching when they do something we don’t like.

And then there’s a little strategic cheating. State law provides that no public officer shall “use his or her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with an election.” Elected officers have a right to free speech, and a duty to tell us what they think is good or bad for the state, but they’re not supposed to use their official powers to rig a race.

The Agency for Health Care Administration, controlled by DeSantis, has an internet site that reads like a campaign pitch for the vote-no campaign. It states that the six-week law protects women and that Amendment 4 endangers them.

“This anti-Amendment 4 website from AHCA is bull—,” Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried said. “Using state agency resources for campaign purposes is illegal, and we’re looking into any and all recourses to take this website down.”

DeSantis defended the police action, saying there’s been legitimate suspicion of signature fraud. He has argued that the AHCA web page is the kind of public service announcement the state often does, like with ads against “buzzed driving,” for hurricane preparedness or urging people to quit smoking.

Fried wrote to three state attorneys, seeking a criminal inquiry into state use of the internet site, and the AHCA campaign has drawn lawsuits. The state Supreme Court has agreed to expedite a case filed against AHCA, DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody by a South Florida attorney seeking an order barring election interference by public officers.

It would be easier to accept the governor’s selfless concern for clean campaigning if he hadn’t thrown his weight so much in the past. This is the guy who suspended two state attorneys for not doing their independently elected jobs his way and who stripped Disney of a special district in a get-even grudge match.

It’s not unusual for governors to add some personal prestige and stake a little political capital on a referendum.

Gov. Reubin Askew sponsored the “Sunshine Amendment” forcing financial disclosure by politicians and won a referendum allowing a corporate income tax. Gov. Bob Graham organized sheriffs and religious leaders against a casino gambling amendment. Gov. Jeb Bush opposed setting maximum class sizes in public schools, which passed anyway.

But those campaigns don’t involve abortion—probably the hottest political issue of 2024. And those governors didn’t openly, flagrantly use state facilities, authority and personnel to push their political agendas. 

They did it covertly, like nature intended.

Bill Cotterell is a retired Capitol reporter for United Press International and the Tallahassee Democrat. He can be reached at wrcott43@aol.com