The Republican Party of Florida today congratulated Governor Ron DeSantis and his administration after a Leon County judge upheld the state’s decision to toss more than 200,000 invalid petition signatures for a proposed recreational marijuana amendment.

The ruling confirms that Florida’s election laws must be enforced especially when it comes to asking voters to amend our State Constitution.

“Governor DeSantis did the right thing by enforcing the law and protecting the integrity of our ballot,” said RPOF Chairman Evan Power. “Floridians will not be misled. If you want to change our Constitution, you follow the rules—period.”

The court found the petition forms had been materially changed by the ballot sponsor without approval from the Secretary of State. Florida election law plainly states that signatures collected on unapproved forms may not be counted.

“This is a victory for ballot integrity,” Power added. “We must ensure that attempts to amend our State Constitution are done legally. The stakes are too high to allow shortcuts.”

Not only did the ballot sponsor change the petition forms, but they also did not include a copy of the full text of their proposed amendment. Florida voters deserve transparency and should know exactly what they’re signing up for when putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

Florida is the gold-standard for election integrity, and we must continue defending the integrity of our state’s elections and protecting all Florida voters.