U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker dropped a hammer yesterday, dismissing every single major claim brought by a coalition of left-wing groups trying to gut Florida’s common-sense petition circulator rules and ten-day delivery requirements.
The case brought by Florida Decides Healthcare, Smart & Safe Florida, League of Women Voters, LULAC, Poder Latinx and their usual gang of professional left-wing agitators, got most of their claims thrown out with extreme prejudice.
The case revolves around Florida House Bill 1205 (2025), signed into law on May 2, 2025, is a strong, common-sense election integrity reform that protects the integrity of Florida’s state constitution from fraud, manipulation, and outside interference.
Sponsored by Republican Representative Jenna Persons-Mulicka and backed by Governor Ron DeSantis, this bill fixes a broken citizen-initiative process that had become a playground for paid operatives, signature fraud, and out-of-state interests trying to rewrite our fundamental law without real accountability.
It shortens petition submission deadlines to 10 days, imposes a $50 daily fine per form for late submissions, mandates tighter circulator registration, and invalidates signatures collected by unregistered individuals.
The Palm Beach Post reported:
U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued his order on April 30. While petition circulation is considered core First Amendment activity, Walker found Florida’s deadlines and penalties to be routine safeguards – not a severe burden on that speech – potentially narrowing the scope of future challenges to ballot initiative laws.
Florida’s law, which went into effect July 1, developed into a back-and-forth battle between petition groups and Secretary of State Cord Byrd.
A trial began Feb. 9, and the groups argued that the measure undermined the process for a constitutional amendment to get on Florida’s ballot and for residents to vote on. These increased burdens not only include threats to protected speech, but also increased costs, stricter penalties and tighter deadlines.
Walker wrote in his order that he believed the provisions enforced by the state “fall within the heartland of permissible State regulation of the ballot initiative process,” citing other states being allowed to impose restrictions on petition processes without implicating First Amendment rights.
“Based on the trial record, this Court remains unpersuaded that the return deadline, fines for late returns, and fines for erroneous returns constitute a severe burden on Plaintiffs’ speech in violation of their First Amendment rights,” Walker wrote.
Florida Decides Healthcare said it was disappointed with Walker’s ruling and is still considering whether to appeal.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier went straight to X and dropped the mic on the Democrats’ favorite election lawyer:
“Hey Marc, would you like to update everyone on the loss you took last night in the Northern District of Florida?”
Hey Marc, would you like to update everyone on the loss you took last night in the Northern District of Florida? https://t.co/JzVDEOPYYE pic.twitter.com/yshrEClYxm
— Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) May 1, 2026
The post Florida AG James Uthmeier Publicly Humiliates Marc Elias After Crushing Court Defeat — “Hey Marc, Would You Like to Update Everyone on the Loss You Took Last Night?” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.