Florida Pro-Abortion Group Pays $186,000 in Campaign Fraud Case
A Florida pro-abortion group that spearheaded an effort to get abortion enshrined in the state's Constitution, but failed, is now being forced to pay more than $186,000 in fines after multiple complaints and investigations alleging major fraudulent activity during its campaign.
According to a Dec. 20, 2024 memo from Florida Deputy Secretary of State for Legal Affairs and Election Integrity Brad McVay, election officials were "inundated" over a two-year period with allegations of signature fraud by "Floridians Protecting Freedom" (FPF), a pro-abortion group.
The 447-page memo outlines that FPF needed a minimum of 891,523 public signatures to get Amendment 4 on the ballot for the November election.
As CBN News reported, the amendment would have created a constitutional right to abortion before viability or when "necessary to protect the patient's health." In the November election, a majority voted for the amendment, but it required a 60% threshold to pass so it was not approved.
FPF was able to get the measure on the ballot collecting 997,035 public signatures in the process, but complaints filed with the Florida Office of Election Crimes & Security (OECS) reportedly found instances where those signatures were potentially fraudulent.
"The allegations included reports of paid FPF petition circulators signing petitions on behalf of deceased individuals, forging or misrepresenting elector signatures on petitions, using electors' personal identifying information without consent, and perjury/false swearing," the memo explains.
Several paid FPF petition circulators were arrested and charged with felonies last year. And now more than 100 criminal investigations into FPF signature gathering continue with cases now being referred to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The report details how the group enlisted PCI Consultants, a California-based corporation, and paid them $27 million in 2023 and 2024 to collect and submit Florida signatures.
PCI is accused of using "unregistered out-of-state entities" and unlawfully paying signature gatherers per signature.
The memo noted that a number of signatures submitted by FPF were rejected by election supervisors, but a deeper investigation into the matter uncovered that a large number of signatures were "mistakenly validated" and counted.
A "Supplemental Interim Report" detailed the investigation findings and noted that audits in Palm Beach County, Osceola County, and Orange County showed a little more than 25 percent of signatures were "submitted by known or suspected fraudsters."
"Each of these (signatures) could correspond to a Floridian who (unbeknownst to him or her) is a victim of felony election fraud," said Secretary McVay.
After the findings, FPF paid $164,000 in a settlement agreement in December 2024 on top of an additional $22,000 it paid earlier for other civil penalties.
Meanwhile, PCI consultation is out of Florida's jurisdiction to "enforce subpoenas" making it difficult to hold them accountable, but McVay has recommended to Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida legislature to bar outside companies from signature gathering efforts, impose residency requirements, and make felons ineligible for paid signature gathering in order to strengthen Florida's election integrity laws.
"The fraud outlined in this report is unacceptable, and it is imperative that the state consider major reforms to the initiative petition process to prevent groups from doing this ever again in Florida," the report concluded.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver commented on the investigation stating, "Election fraud is reprehensible and undermines every citizen's right to vote. The fines and penalties against Floridians Protecting Freedom may not go far enough to prevent groups from doing the same thing again in Florida. Strong laws and enforcement are the best defense against fraud. Floridians deserve an honest and legal ballot process."
CBN News reached to PCI Consultants for comment.
PCI Consultants CEO Angelo Paparella told CBN News the memo is a "blatant political move."
"These allegations were raised after the signature drive was over," he said. "We submitted the signatures on an ongoing basis. Why (wasn't ) it raised when we gathered the signatures?"
He continued, "We complied with the law. I don't think it is a coincidence that these superfluous allegations were sent to the press. We knew the issues was highly controversial and we were extra careful to comply."
CBN News also attempted to reach FPF and learned from Florida Department of State Committee Tracking System, that the organization has closed and is no longer active.
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