Here comes another bill that would change the citizen-led petition process in Florida

by Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
March 7, 2025

The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee introduced a comprehensive election bill on Friday (SB 7016) that includes provisions that Republican lawmakers say are intended to reduce fraud and “safeguard the process” by which amendments are placed on the ballot.

“Investigations conducted by the Office of Election Crimes and Security have shown that agents of political committees sponsoring initiative petitions engaged in illegal and fraudulent activities while gathering petition signatures in the leadup to the 2024 General Election,” Northwest Florida Republican Sen. Don Gaetz, chair the Ethics and Elections Committee, said in a press release announcing the legislation.

“There are numerous instances of petition circulators being paid per signature, signing petition forms on behalf of deceased individuals, forging or misrepresenting voter signatures on petition forms, using voters’ personal identifying information without consent, committing perjury, and swearing false oaths. Our bill guards against this kind of strategic and deliberate malfeasance with strong penalties for those who willfully disregard our laws,” Gaetz said.

SB 7016 is the second such measure introduced in the Florida Senate to address criticisms leveled by Gov. DeSantis about the petition gathering process that he said in January required the Legislature to convene in a special session. While GOP leadership didn’t immediately respond back then, they are now moving quickly on fulfilling his request (the other Senate measure to deal with ballot petition fraud was earlier introduced by Hernando County Republican Blaise Ingoglia – SB 1414).

SB 7016 also:

Reduces the number of days a sponsor has to submit signed petition forms to the appropriate supervisor of elections to 10 from 30.Enhances the fines regarding late- or not-submitted signed petition forms to the supervisor of  elections to $50 per each day late, and raises the fines from $250 to $2,500 for each petition form if the sponsor or petition circulator acted willfully.  Increase fines for non-submitted petition forms from $500 to $5,000 if the sponsor or petition circulator “acted willfully.”Prohibits all felons who have not had their right to vote restored and all noncitizens from collecting signatures. The initiative sponsor is liable for $50,000 fine for each person collecting petitions on its behalf in violation of the prohibition. The bill also requires applicants for petition circulator to complete training about these and other related legal requirements.

And while the Legislature in 2019 made it a third-degree felony to pay petition circulators based on the number of petition forms gathered, the bill broadens this prohibition to capture incentive schemes that are not “pay per signature” but “incentivize based on volume.”

The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee committee published SB 7016 one day after the House Government Operations Subcommittee passed similar legislation. The Senate committee bill will be heard Monday afternoon.

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