FDLE: Two charged for phony signatures for abortion amendment

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has charged two paid petition collectors with submitting phony signatures for a proposed abortion rights constitutional amendment, according to a Tuesday news release.

George Edward Andrews III, 30, of Dade City, was arrested and booked into the Hernando County Jail on 10 felony counts, each of criminal use of personal identification information and signing another person’s name or a fictitious name to a petition.

An arrest warrant has been issued for a resident of the same city and for the same charges: Jamie L. Johnson, 47. FDLE said the duo submitted 133 invalid petitions in Sumter, Hernando, Pasco and Pinellas counties.

FDLE’s Election Crime Unit worked with the Florida Department of State’s Office of Election Crimes and Security, created by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-led Legislature in 2022, according to the release.

The department said additional charges may be filed, and that the cases will be prosecuted by Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution along with State Attorney Bruce Bartlett’s office.

“Florida’s Constitution is a sacred document and there is a lawful method by which voters can make amendments,” Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd said in a statement.

“However, when criminals seek to circumvent that process fraudulently, this is an affront to Floridians and the sanctity of our laws, and we will do everything within our power to ensure that Floridians and our Constitution are protected.”

The proposed constitutional amendment aimed at ensuring a right to abortion in Florida has more than 996,000 citizen signatures.

That’s 100,000 more than needed for it to appear on November’s statewide general election ballot. It’s now up to the Florida Supreme Court to review and approve the ballot language; oral arguments are set for 9 a.m. Wednesday.