State Attorney General’s Office widens probe into alleged fraudulent signatures supporting marijuana initiative – wsvn.com
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) – The State Attorney General’s Office is expanding its investigation into a petition supporting a marijuana initiative.
After looking at the signatures received by the Broward County Supervisor of Elections Office earlier this week, officials now say their search for fraudulent signatures is expanding statewide.
The focus is on a petition backed by Smart & Safe Florida that seeks to put an amendment legalizing marijuana on the November ballot. State officials say they need to verify the validity of the group’s signatures.
The rules for collecting signatures for ballot referendums have changed since 2024, when Amendment 3, which would have legalized recreational marijuana, fell short of the 60% threshold required to pass.
Investigators say they are looking into whether petition collectors violated the new rules and, in some cases, forged voter signatures and used stolen personal information.
In a statement from the state attorney general’s office, they said:
“The prosecutors worked on site for two and a half days alongside [Florida Department of Law Enforcement] election crime agents to obtain copies of petitions and other relevant documents. The team also interviewed members of the Broward staff to see what, if anything, Smart & Safe Florida and their subcontractors reported about these particular circulators…Our prosecutors have now expanded the probe to new allegations of fraud that have been disclosed during our visit to Broward County. We have already opened a half dozen new criminal investigations into Smart & Safe Florida circulators this week based on what we are learning.”
The letter goes on to say that petitioners under investigation turned in thousands of petitions to the Broward Supervisor of Elections and that their investigation is just beginning.
“Of those approximate 25,000 petitions, close to 10,000 appeared to have been verified as valid by supervisors. We have reason to believe this is the tip of the iceberg, and many more fraudulent actors associated with Smart & Safe Florida exist.”
Following the letter from the state attorney’s office, Smart & Safe Florida shared a statement with 7News, which reads in part:
“It is clear that the [Secretary of State] is using every means necessary to stifle the voices of over a million Florida voters who have lawfully and legally signed petitions.”
The group adds that they follow all laws, and they’ve set aside suspicious petitions.
For the initiative to be placed on the state ballot, at least 891,523 valid signatures supporting the measure must be submitted by Feb. 1.
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