Anonymous donors are supporting the fight to remove Florida's abortion amendment from the ballot

TALLAHASSEE — The legal effort to remove Florida's abortion amendment from the ballot is being funded by an unnamed donor.

The lawsuits filed last week by a group of anti-abortion advocates argue that a report from Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration alleging “widespread” fraud in the Amendment 4 petition, therefore should disqualify all votes for the initiative.

Former Florida Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson is representing the four Florida women suing. In the lawsuits, he argues that Amendment 4 supporters failed to secure the required number of signatures to get it on the ballot the reported fraud will be taken into account.

The lawsuit is being funded by an “angel financier,” Lawson told the Times/Herald. He declined to reveal the donor's name or provide any other information about him.

If someone other than the client pays the attorney's fees, the legal team must meet several conditions under the Florida Bar's Rules of Ethical Conduct, Lawson said. This includes ensuring that the donor “does not direct the attorney’s actions or influence legal strategy in any manner that is contrary to the wishes or interests of the client.”

“We are of course following these rules,” Lawson said in a text message to the Times/Herald.

While the donor Identity remains a mystery, the funds are helping fuel a high-risk legal challenge that could result in the amendment being thrown out even if it passes with 60% voter approval next month. Across the state, hundreds of thousands of Floridians have already cast their Amendment 4 ballots.

In states with citizen initiatives, it is unusual to remove a constitutional amendment after it is already up for a vote.

“It’s a pretty extreme measure,” said Jonathan Marshfield, a constitutional law professor at the University of Florida.

Part of Lawson's legal strategy will rely on a 2006 court ruling on another amendment effort. In this case, the 1st District Court of Appeal held that an election does not cure or nullify fraud used to obtain an alteration to the ballot.

Lawson submitted almost identically Lawsuits in about two dozen Florida counties. He said he plans to move forward with one case and try to stop the others. The case could escalate a district appellate court and probably the Florida Supreme Court.

Some legal experts believe it could be difficult for Lawson and the anti-abortion plaintiffs to convince a court to strike down the amendment.

Barry Richard, an attorney who provided legal advice at the start of Amendment 4, said he believes there is a fundamental reason Problem with relying on the state report.

The report reviewed over 13,000 of the nearly one million validated petitions nationwide. From this it was extrapolated that around 16.4% of all Amendment 4 petitions should never have been accepted.

With state returning officers Although they validate petitions, they are prohibited from using sampling to verify signatures and get an initiative on the ballot, Richard noted.

“It seems to me that the court is not going to allow the other way around, that you can use a representative sample to remove it from the ballot,” Richard said.

Richard said he couldn't imagine a court asking that The district election offices have to check each signature again.

“It would open a can of worms, I don't think the court would want to open it,” Richard said.

Marshfield said that while the 2006 case says an election does not cure fraud, the Florida Supreme Court has largely avoided issuing an opinion.

Instead, the state Supreme Court has asked lower courts to determine whether or not the fraud was substantial, a process that could take months.

But Marshfield said filing before the election gives challengers more credibility, even if the issue isn't resolved by then. In previous cases, courts have dealt with groups who do not challenge a matter based on fraud until they have achieved a result they did not like.

Concerns about election integrity resonate with conservatives, said Mary Ziegler, a reproductive and abortion law expert at UC Davis, and Florida's Supreme Court is one of the most conservative in the country. She said the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that allegations of fraud can lead to compelling action, even if the evidence is somewhat flimsy.

But the timing of the state's report and legal challenge could also impact a court's decision his decision, she said. Earlier this year, Secretary of State Cord Byrd confirmed that the amendment should appear on the ballot, and the legal deadline for challenging the validity of amendment signatures has long passed.

Ziegler said the idea that Florida judges wouldn't even consider what it would look like for them to invalidate an amendment that passed the popular vote “seems ridiculous.”

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