Cord Byrd

Smart & Safe Florida, the campaign pushing the marijuana amendment, says the pronouncement is “premature” and “final and complete” signature count by counties hasn’t been reported yet.

The three-judge panel overturned a circuit court's ruling on inactive voters and upheld a ruling on petitions gathered by nonresidents, with the net effect of invalidating more than 70,000 signatures.

A judge’s split ruling on a ballot measure triggered appeals from both sides, as deadlines loom over disputed petition signatures from inactive voters and out-of-state gatherers.

The state urges a judge to reject a lawsuit challenging directives that invalidated tens of thousands of petition signatures for a proposed ramendment, citing fraud prevention and voter inactivity.

The motion, filed Monday, disputed that the restrictions violate the First Amendment, including saying they “affect conduct, not speech.

The lawsuit says the Legislature’s plan to connect Black populations in the two counties in District 16 “sacrificed genuine communities of interest” and stripped them from adjacent District 18, reducing their influence there.

Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker denied the request from attorneys for Secretary of State Cord Byrd in a lawsuit challenging the 2023 law.

Voting-rights groups and others asked the court to take up the case, which centers on a North Florida district that in the past elected Black Democrat Al Lawson but was overhauled during an April 2022 special legislative session.

Secretary of State Cord Byrd outlined $3.15 million for the Office of Election Crimes and Security, which was created last year and is staffed by five people.

Voting-rights groups say the law was intended to restrict minority voters’ access to the ballot.

The U.S. Department of State recently announced a reward of up to $10 million for information on foreign interference in elections.