ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced this week a major escalation in an ongoing election fraud investigation led by the Office of Statewide Prosecution, citing dozens of new criminal investigations tied to petition activity connected to a marijuana ballot initiative.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, the investigation now includes 46 new criminal investigations and the issuance of four criminal subpoenas seeking records from Smart and Safe Florida, as well as its contractors and subcontractors.
Smart and Safe Florida is a Tallahassee-based nonprofit organization that supports Amendment 25-01, which would legalize the adult personal use of marijuana in Florida.
[WATCH: Nearly 400 Seminole County voters warned of petition signature issue]
According to the release, 50 petition circulators associated with Smart and Safe Florida submitted more than 21,600 petitions, of which over 14,500 raised significant concerns, including mismatched signatures or other indications of fraud.
In Seminole County, 378 voters were alerted to a “potential issue” this week by the election supervisor related to the arrest of one petitioner.
After News 6 brought the allegations to Smart and Safe Florida, a campaign spokesperson issued a statement defending the organization’s actions.
[WATCH: Nearly 400 Seminole County voters warned of petition signature issue]
“Consistent with Florida law, each and every time we found any sort of discrepancy from state-certified petition gatherers, we reported our suspicions to the Secretary of State. Even further, we segregate any suspicious petitions before submitting them to county supervisors of elections. In short, it appears the Attorney General is taking issue with the fact that we explicitly follow the law.”
The statement went on to say, “We will, of course, continue to work with the state to ensure anyone who appears to be committing fraud is immediately terminated and promptly reported to the state and we hope the Attorney General applies the same vigor to the $10 million HOPE Florida scandal also being investigated by the State Attorney.”
Attorney General’s Office stated that, over the past several months, nine petition circulators have been arrested or issued warrants in connection with the investigation.
Officials anticipate additional arrests in the coming weeks as the probe nears completion.
Uthmeier has long been an opponent of the recreational marijuana amendment. He led Gov. DeSantis’ efforts to defeat the amendment in 2024 when he was the governor’s chief of staff.
Smart and Safe Florida has until Feb. 1 to submit all of its petition signatures — the state requires at least 880,062 signatures — to get on the November ballot.
The group filed a lawsuit Friday, accusing Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd of violating state law by not publicly reporting updates on valid petition signatures. The group said the number of signatures has not changed in the past two months.
The Florida Supreme Court will also hear arguments on Feb. 5 on Uthmeier’s challenge to keep the amendment off the ballot.