Television ads telling Floridians to vote against Amendments 3 and 4 are not unusual – but who is sponsoring some of the ads is.
At the end of a commercial telling voters to vote no on 3, it shows it is sponsored by three state agencies: Florida's Departments of Health, Children and Families, and Education.
“It’s really unprecedented to see this kind of government attempt to influence an election,” said Ben Wilcox with Integrity Florida, a nonpartisan research institute and government watchdog.
“That’s not supposed to be happening," he said. "You’re supposed to draw a bright line between electioneering and campaigning and the use of taxpayer money. I think what’s going on is fundamentally wrong."
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Early estimates show the state has spent millions in taxpayer dollars on influencing voters against the constitutional amendments that if passed, would legalize marijuana and expand abortion access.
NBC6 asked Lieutenant Gov. Jeanette Nunez about the practice and the criticism against it.
“I’d say it’s a responsibility the state has to educate individuals to know what they’re voting for," Nunez said. "It’s absolutely appropriate, the state has always done PSAs, it’s always educated its voters."
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Wilcox called the lieutenant governor's statements "ridiculous."
“That’s ridiculous, a ridiculous argument to make. But that’s the argument they’re going to make to try and justify what they’re doing,” he said. “However you feel about whether abortion should be a woman’s right to choose, if you say it’s dangerous to women’s health that’s your opinion. You can find plenty of other opinions out there that say abortion access is good for women’s health."
He said the problem he has is the state using taxpayer dollars to promote opinions.
"This is the voter’s chance to tell the government how they feel about a public policy issue," he said. "It shouldn’t be the government telling voters how they should feel.”
