TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — State police are showing up at Florida voters’ homes to question them about signing a petition to get an abortion rights amendment on the ballot in November, and a state health care agency has launched a website targeting the ballot initiative with politically charged language.

Critics say they’re the latest efforts by Florida’s Republican elected officials to leverage state resources to try to block the abortion rights measure, moves which some Democratic officials argue could violate state laws against voter intimidation.

“Ron (DeSantis) has repeatedly used state power to interfere with a citizen-led process to get reproductive freedom on the ballot,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried told reporters on Monday. “This is their latest desperate attempt before Election Day.”

The ballot initiative known as Amendment 4 would enshrine abortion rights in Florida law. If approved by 60% of voters, the procedure would remain legal until the fetus is viable, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.

Isaac Menasche, one of nearly a million people who signed the petition to get the measure on the ballot, said a law enforcement officer knocked on his door last week in Lee County in southwest Florida to ask him about signing it.

The officer said the questioning was part of an investigation into alleged petition fraud, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

“I’m not a person who is going out there protesting for abortion,” Menasche told the newspaper. “I just felt strongly, and I took the opportunity when the person asked me to say, ‘Yeah, I’ll sign that petition.’”

Critics say the investigation is a brazen attempt to intimidate voters in the country’s third-largest state from protecting access to abortion — and the latest in a series of efforts by the governor’s administration to target Amendment 4.

“Amendment 4 was placed on the ballot by nearly one million Floridians around the state and across party lines who believe that people, not politicians, deserve the freedom to make their own health care decisions,” Lauren Brenzel, the director of the Yes on 4 campaign, said in an email. “But the State will stop at nothing to keep in place their near-total abortion ban.”

Florida law currently bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant.

Speaking at a press event Monday in South Florida, DeSantis defended police visiting the homes of petition signers, and a separate move by a state health care agency to create a website targeting the ballot amendment, saying both are aimed at making sure November’s vote is fair.

DeSantis signed a law in 2022 creating a state police force dedicated to investigating voter fraud and elections crimes. Voter fraud is rare, typically occurs in isolated instances and is generally detected.

He said elections police are going to the homes of people who signed the petitions that got Amendment 4 on the ballot not to intimidate them, but because questions have been raised about the legitimacy of the signatures. He said the police have found evidence that some of the supposed signatures were from dead people.

“Anyone who submitted a petition that is a valid voter, that is totally within their rights to do it,” DeSantis said. “We are not investigating that. What they are investigating is fraudulent petitions. We know that this group did submit on behalf of dead people.”

A deadline in state law to challenge the validity of the signatures has long passed, but county-level election administrators across Florida say they have been receiving requests from state officials to turn over verified petition signatures as part of a state probe.

Mary Jane Arrington, a Democrat who has served as the Supervisor of Elections in Osceola County in central Florida for 16 years, told The Associated Press she had never received a request like this one before.

Arrington said she didn’t know what to make of the state’s request to review signatures her office had already verified.

“These are ones that we deemed the petition valid, both in completeness and in their signature matching what we had on file for the voter,” Arrington said. “They said they were investigating … signature petition fraud.”

The state’s elections crime unit has opened more than 40 investigations into paid petition gathers working for the Amendment 4 campaign, according to a letter that Deputy Secretary of State Brad McVay sent to the Palm Beach County supervisor of elections that was shared with the AP.

Judges have tossed out previous criminal cases brought by the controversial Office of Election Crimes and Security.

Meanwhile, a state health care agency launched a new website last week targeting Amendment 4, with a landing page proclaiming that “Florida is Protecting Life” and warning “Don’t let the fearmongers lie to you.”

DeSantis said the page created by Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration is being paid through a budget the department has to do public service announcements. He said the page is not political but is giving Floridians “factual information” about the amendment.

“Everything that is put out is factual. It is not electioneering,” DeSantis said at the news conference, adding, “I am glad they are doing it.”

Florida is one of nine states where measures to protect abortion access have qualified to go before voters in 2024.

Florida Republicans have been using various other strategies to thwart the state abortion ballot measure. Republican Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody attempted to use the state Supreme Court to keep abortion off the ballot. Later, abortion rights advocates criticized a financial impact statement meant to be placed on the ballot beside the proposed amendment as an attempt to mislead voters. The state Supreme Court ruled in August to allow the language to remain on the ballot.

Meanwhile, anti-abortion groups and GOP allies across the country are using an array of strategies to counter proposed ballot initiatives aiming to protect reproductive rights. These tactics have included legislative pushes for competing ballot measures that could confuse voters and monthslong delays caused by lawsuits over ballot initiative language.

Nebraskans, for example, are awaiting rulings from the state Supreme Court on three lawsuits aimed at keeping abortion off the ballot. And the Missouri Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Tuesday in an appeal of a lower court ruling that an abortion rights campaign did not meet legal requirements to qualify for the November ballot.

___

Associated Press writers Christine Fernando in Chicago, Geoff Mulvihill in Philadelphia, and Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale contributed to this report.

___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. – It’s pretty much a Florida tradition for any beach day: You load up the car and on the way to the ocean, you make the obligatory Publix run to grab all the beach essentials like Pub Subs, sweet tea and fried chicken.

Just check social media. There are a ton of creators who describe their Publix pit stops as a mandatory step before any fun-in-the-sun activity.

But any beachgoers heading down Atlantic Boulevard toward Neptune Beach will have a choice to make. That’s because two Publix stores sit just over 500 feet apart.

Yes, you read that right.

There are over 20 Publix stores in Jacksonville alone. Sometimes it feels like there’s one on every corner. And on Atlantic Boulevard just before 3rd Street, it’s like you’re seeing double.

Publix Super Market at Seminole Shoppes at 630 Atlantic Blvd. opened in 2010. It’s probably the most familiar Publix in the area if you don’t visit Neptune Beach often.

So, it might be a bit confusing to see a more modern-looking Publix sitting at the Neptune Beach Plaza on 580 Atlantic Blvd., just to the left of the original 54,130 square-foot store.

The updated store opened in 2023 after the company acquired the 29,810 square foot space that formerly housed Lucky’s Market for $2.3 million, according to News4JAX news partner the Jax Daily Record.

As convenient as it may sound, it’s also confusing. Why did the Florida-born company feel the need to build another Publix close to…well, another Publix?

A spokesperson for the company told News4JAX it is not “unusual to have Publix locations close in proximity.”

There are similar situations in St. Johns County, though not quite to the extreme happening at the Beaches.

In Nocatee, the Super Market at Nocatee Town Center at 120 Marketside Avenue sits less than a half mile from a Publix GreenWise Market across the street at 250 Pine Lake Drive.

GreenWise is Publix’s organic brand that was expanded to stand-alone stores with four locations in Florida, according to an online locator map.

St. Augustine’s Publix at Market at Shoppes at Murabella has a newly opened Publix Super Market at Parkey Village of St. Johns that sits right across State Road 16.

While both Neptune Beach stores are fully open and have been successfully operating next to each other, residents admitted the concept was rather strange.

McKenzie Fletcher moved to Atlantic Beach from Ponte Vedra Beach and shops at the newer Publix in Neptune Beach.

She said she questioned the employees about the store’s purpose.

“This is now the closest Publix to me and I was asking if they were shutting down the old one. Hence, why this one is brand new,” Fletcher said.

Nope, that’s not the case here. Both stores are open with no intention of shutting down.

When News4JAX reached out to Publix to learn the differences between the stores, the spokesperson confirmed while both stores operate as a “traditional Publix” with most grocery departments and a full-service bakery and deli, the newer store includes features from the GreenWise brand.

“The Neptune Beach Plaza location also has a Pours section where customers can purchase items like acai bowls, smoothies, beer, wine, coffee or tea and sip while they shop,” the spokesperson said.

Fletcher found the additional store to be convenient despite her confusion.

“It’s slightly closer to my house and it is kind of like stop-and-go. I do feel like they do have special things like the little bar and stuff. It’s cute.” Fletcher said.

Other people News4JAX spoke to also seemed to question the dueling Publixes.

One woman commutes around four miles from the Golden Glades neighborhood to shop at the newer Publix store because the store at Atlantic and Hodges Boulevards is temporarily closed for construction.

“I thought it was little a odd. I thought maybe because the one at Hodges is closed, maybe they thought they were going to have a bit of a spillover. I’m not quite sure why they did that. It is interesting,” one woman told News4JAX.

We asked Publix for a construction update and have not heard back.

But even with double the opportunity to buy groceries “where shopping is a pleasure,” some found minor inconveniences.

Another Atlantic Beach resident pointed out that the newer Publix does not have a pharmacy, which makes him have to take a trip to the older store. Although the two stores are side-by-side, unless you’re walking, you can’t simply drive from one store parking lot to another because there is a barrier blocking access.

News4JAX asked the spokesperson about the barrier but they did not immediately respond.

“As a whole, we look for opportunities to best serve our customers and, in some cases, alleviate congestion in stores, in addition to allowing for the best traffic patterns in a particular area,” the spokesperson said responding to a separate email asking about the benefit both stores serve.

Most people we spoke with said they preferred the newer location because it didn’t seem as busy.

“I prefer the smaller one. There’s a different atmosphere, a little bit more positive. It’s a little easier to find stuff, less walking. It’s the same thing. It’s just newer,” one man said.

The two locations have coexisted for at least a year. One thing is for sure, Floridians love Publix, so double the opportunity is a double bonus for shoppers.

The ever-growing grocery store recently opened a new Jacksonville location at 11341 Normandy Boulevard in the Plaza at Normandy. The closest store to that location is 5.3 miles away.

Topline

Former President Donald Trump said Sunday he would vote for a Florida ballot measure seeking to legalize recreational marijuana in the state, a move that puts the Republican presidential candidate at odds with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state GOP leaders.

Key Facts

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Key Background

Trump’s support for the legislation is a stark contrast from the position taken by DeSantis and other GOP leaders in the state. In April, DeSantis attacked Amendment 3, saying it “does not just decriminalize marijuana. It’s a license to have it wherever you want.” The Florida governor also warned the state will “start to smell like marijuana in our cities and towns”, if the measure passes. Billionaire Ken Griffin—a key GOP donor and DeSantis supporter—has poured $12 million into opposing the measure, arguing it only serves “special interests” and will lead to an “increase in crime.” Trump’s first comments in favor of Amendment 3 last month faced strong pushback from some Florida Republicans. David Biddle, the GOP Chair for the state’s Gilchrist County, wrote: “Don’t listen to Trump. Vote NO on Amendment 3.”

Tangent

In his original post on the matter last month, Trump said the state legislature should create laws to prohibit marijuana use in public places: “so we do not smell marijuana everywhere we go, like we do in many of the Democrat run Cities.” This was likely an effort to address one of the key talking points raised by DeSantis and other opponents of the measure. The Florida governor, however, has argued that if Amendment 3 passes, the state’s constitution will only allow “regulating the use of *medical* marijuana in public, but not *recreational* marijuana.”

Big Number

60%. That is the percentage of votes the ballot measure needs to secure for its passage.

Further Reading

As DeSantis fears ‘putrid’ pot smell, Trump says Amendment 3 could be ‘very good’ (Orlando Sentinel)