Frost, Wasserman Schultz Lead Florida Dems in Calling on DOJ To Investigate DeSantis Efforts to Intimidate Voters Over Abortion Amendment Support
Letter Comes as DeSantis’s So-Called “Election Police” Have Been Showing Up to Voters Homes, Demanding Identification and Questioning Their Support for Overturning FL’s 6-Week Abortion Ban
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost (FL-10), Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), and their colleagues in the Florida Democratic Congressional Delegation sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland at the Department of Justice (DOJ), calling on the DOJ to investigate the State of Florida’s brazen attempts at voter intimidation and election interference on Amendment 4, an amendment to Florida’s constitution that would expand abortion rights across the state.
Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed Florida’s unpopular 6-week abortion bill into law and has come out in strong opposition to Amendment 4, now appears to be using his “election police” force to intimidate voters who signed petitions in support of getting the abortion initiative on the ballot.
One person said they were “left shaken” after receiving a police visit, sharing that they were deeply concerned to see that the plain clothed detective that visited him had a folder containing pages of personal information and that it was “troubling that so much resources were devoted to this.”
In the letter, the Members write: “We are concerned that this investigation, as well as the AHCA’s anti-Amendment 4 campaign, constitute an abuse of official resources to intimidate and unsettle voters out of voting for Amendment 4, which Governor DeSantis has a long, storied history of opposing… This suppressive and abusive conduct mirrors similar 2022 pre-election activity by the DeSantis administration to harass and arrest felons in Florida who recently had their voting rights restored…We urge your department to launch an investigation into the DeSantis administration’s anti-democratic actions.”
Reps. Frost and Wasserman Schultz are joined by Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Frederica Wilson (FL-24), Lois Frankel (FL-22), Kathy Castor (FL-14), and Darren Soto (FL-09) in signing the letter.
For the full text of the letter, please click here.
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