A paid petition circulator working for the campaign to legalize adult-use cannabis in Florida is being accused of submitting about 1,600 fraudulent signatures from voters in Palm Beach and Broward counties, CBS12 reports. Ashford Todd Monroe Jr. is accused of forging signatures and unauthorized use of personal information from voters.
Investigators allege that Monroe submitted 1,955 petition forms, but 1,595 of the forms are suspected forgery. The forms will be invalid due to the forgeries.
According to authorities, several voters have confirmed in interviews that they did not sign the petitions and did not authorize the use of their personal information. One petition submitted by Monroe was under the name of a deceased person, whose passing occurred before the date listed on the petition.
In January, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced 46 new criminal investigations related to alleged fraud in the cannabis legalization petition drive, according to a WPTV report. At that time, nine petition circulators had been arrested, or had warrants issued, and at least six more were pending. Uthmeier also issued four criminal subpoenas seeking records from Smart & Safe Florida, the campaign behind the initiative, and its contractors.
Last month, the Florida Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Smart & Safe Florida to restore signatures supporting the campaign’s 2026 cannabis legalization bid. About 70,000 were disqualified by Florida’s secretary of state under rules approved by lawmakers last year that made the signature-gathering process for voter ballot initiatives in the state more difficult. The campaign sued to overturn the rules, but an appeals court ruled in the state’s favor.
