The Seminole Native American group in Florida is accusing the Las Vegas Sands Corporation-supported political action committee of dishonesty in its campaign to expand commercial gambling facilities within the state.
The tribe asserts that Florida Voters Responsible participated in deceptive practices during the signature gathering procedure to enable commercial casinos in the state and “clearly disregarded” election regulations.
According to the state’s constitution, any entity besides the Seminole Tribe seeking to expand gambling requires a constitutional change that must be approved by a statewide vote. A proposal needs to gather 891,589 signatures to be included on the 2022 election ballot.
The Seminole Tribe’s representatives have “intervened” in the petition campaign, such as trying to recruit employees from the expansion group, according to Florida Voters Responsible, resulting in a legal dispute between the two parties.
While the legal matter is still in progress, the tribe’s own political action committee, “Stand Up for Florida,” has refuted most of the accusations made by Florida Voters Responsible. It maintains that its actions were justified due to the alleged activities of the expansion group.
This week, a political group backed by the tribe disputed the assertion, claiming that the committee actually supported by Las Vegas Sands was engaged in unlawful actions.
“Stand Up for Florida” declared that professional petition collectors hired by FVC-PAC blatantly disregarded Florida election law, not only submitting illegally acquired petitions to election officials but also attempting to use the courts to restrict free speech and competitive labor recruitment based on an unlawful and unenforceable employment relationship.
The counter-argument asserted that the Committee for Responsible Florida Voters had arrangements with numerous contractors who were compensated based on the number of signatures they gathered.
“Stand Up for Florida” released an agreement between the Committee for Responsible Florida Voters and one of its contractors, GPD, which outlined that “total compensation will be determined by the number of valid petitions submitted.” According to the agreement, the contractor would receive $450,000 for every 25,000 signatures.
Another contractor, Grassfire, compensated its employees based on the number of signatures collected by its employees, as evidenced by its compensation structure table published on its website.
Florida Statute 104.186 states that “any individual who pays a petition collector based on the number of petitions gathered” will commit a first-degree misdemeanor.
The legal action asserts that all employment agreements utilized to obtain signatures for the expansion of gambling are illegitimate and contravene Florida’s election regulations. They further contend that all petitions gathered under this scheme are void.
The tribe’s political committee asserts that Florida Voters Responsible, the entity spearheading the petition drive, also participated in illicit activities such as destroying petitions, completing missing details on petitions, and falsifying signatures.
The organization “Fight for Florida” has unveiled photographs of containers employed by Grassfire, the firm contracted to gather signatures, to categorize petitions. One container was labeled “rubbish.” The lawsuit alleges that these petitions were destroyed at Grassfire’s offices, where surveillance cameras are believed to be operational.
As a consequence of these accusations, “Fight for Florida” is requesting the court to declare all signatures collected by Florida Voters Responsible invalid.
The Florida Constitution’s provision regarding gambling expansion is also at the heart of another legal dispute concerning sports wagering in Florida. Following the approval of a new accord last year, the Seminole Tribe was permitted to offer sports betting in the state, encompassing online betting.
However, after a racetrack operator filed a lawsuit, mobile betting on non-tribal territories was deemed unlawful, and the tribe’s Hard Rock Sportsbook was taken offline.
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