Florida election officials are fining Smart & Safe Florida – the organization behind the state’s attempted cannabis legalization campaign – $121,850 for allegedly failing to deliver initiative petitions within the 30 days required by law.
In a letter to Smart & Safe Florida, Deputy Secretary of State Brad McVay said that the Division of Elections (DOE) and Office of Election Crimes & Security (OCES) received information from the Supervisor of Elections’ offices that organizers delivered 2,437 petition forms for last year’s failed initiative after the deadline. The petitions are related to Alachua, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, and Leon counties.
McVay also accused the group of other election law violations, including submitting “forged or fraudulent” petitions. In another letter, McVay says that one of the petitions in question was “purportedly signed by a Florida voter in February 2025, when, in fact, that voter has been deceased since November 2024.” Additionally, McVay says that some voters who received information packages from Smart & Safe Florida – which contained a petition, campaign mailer, and stamped envelope – submitted the petition more than once. The letter notes that the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections has referred more than 100 voters to OCES over potential multiple submissions.
In a letter to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections, Smart & Safe Florida said that the inclusion of multiple petitions in mailers “included both a pre-filled version and a blank one” meant to target “multi-voter households and intended the blank form to be completed by someone different than the person identified on the pre-filled form.”
“However, it seems some people may have filled out and returned both in their name, leading to duplicates. We do not believe (voters filling out and returning both petitions in their name) was done with any malice or purposeful intent – just a case of confusion with the mailing process.” — Smart & Safe Florida, in a letter to Palm Beach County Board of Supervisors via Florida Department of State
McVay also accused the mailers of containing materials unapproved by state officials. According to the letter, the form approved by the Secretary of State “did not include a hyperlink” while the forms mailed to voters did, and that the hyperlink to the proposed amendment ran afoul of rules that require “the full text of the associated proposed amendment…be provided or displayed” before a voter signs the petition.
The letter demands the group cease and desist from “mailing, use, or circulation of non-approved petition forms.”
The Smart & Safe campaign told Florida’s Voice that the claims “appear to be a targeted effort to thwart the ability for the people of Florida to express their support of a citizen-driven amendment.”
“We stand by the process and had legal counsel vet all forms and communications prior to mailing and look forward to challenging the validity of these claims.” — Smart & Safe Florida campaign, via Florida’s Voice
Last year’s legalization campaign received nearly 56% voter support, but the initiative failed to pass because Florida law requires 60% for ballot amendments to the state constitution.
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