Washington, D.C. — Today, Eric H. Holder, Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States and Chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), released the following statement in response to Governor Ron DeSantis enacting H.B. 1205, a new law that imposes exceedingly onerous burdens on citizens’ ability to enact constitutional amendments through ballot initiatives by imposing significant financial and bureaucratic obstacles in the initiative process:

“Florida Republicans have enacted this extreme anti-democracy law for one reason: they are terrified of voters. Not only are they hoarding power by making it harder to vote and drawing some of the most egregious gerrymanders in the country, but they are also now threatening punitive and extraordinarily expensive fines in an effort to prevent citizen-led constitutional amendments from getting on the ballot in the first place.

“For nearly 60 years, Floridians have had the power to hold politicians accountable through citizen-led constitutional amendments. Florida Republicans have already raised the threshold for ballot initiatives unnecessarily high, restricting the people’s ability to have a say. By signing this billionaire-friendly bill into law, Ron DeSantis has ripped that power away from the people to keep power in the hands of his fat cat rich friends and powerful special interests. What’s happening in the Sunshine State should be a warning to the American people, at a time when there is a real danger to our democracy: that too many Republicans in too many places are willing to do anything—anything—to win.”

###