Overview

• Florida Decides HealthCare, with support from the Southern Poverty Law Center and Elias Law Group, filed a federal lawsuit on May 4–5, 2025, seeking to block Florida's new ballot initiative restrictions.
• The new law, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, introduces tighter deadlines, felony penalties for unregistered petition circulators, and bans on noncitizens, out-of-state residents, and certain felons from participating in signature collection.
• Critics argue the law undermines direct democracy by increasing compliance costs and deterring grassroots volunteers, making it harder to qualify initiatives like Medicaid expansion for the ballot.
• Supporters of the legislation, including Sen. Don Gaetz, claim the changes are necessary to prevent fraud and ensure the integrity of citizen amendments following allegations of signature-gathering abuses.
• Florida Decides HealthCare has collected 100,000 signatures toward the 880,000 required for its Medicaid expansion initiative, but faces heightened challenges under the new legal and logistical constraints.