Florida Casino Petition Suit: Seminole-Funded PAC Wants State Review Stopped

A Florida judge is being asked to stop the certification of signatures for a proposed expanded gaming measure in the state.  A political action committee (PAC) supported by the Seminole Tribe of Florida claims they were gathered illegally.

Standing Up for Florida and Pradeep “Rick” Asani, the group’s president, filed a countersuit in Leon County Monday. The move came in response to a case filed last month against them by a rival PAC. In the initial suit, Florida Voters in Charge (FVC) claimed Standing Up for Florida harassed its workers as they gathered signatures for a petition to put a question on the November 2022 ballot. The petition aimed to legalize casino gaming in the northern part of the state.

FVC has received nearly $49.6 million in funding from Las Vegas Sands Corp., according to the Florida Department of State Division of Elections. That includes $22.5 million in contributions made in December.

Standing Up for Florida has received more than $10 million from the Seminole Tribe, Florida Department of State Division of Elections indicate.

In the countersuit, Standing Up for Florida claims FVC hired Game Day Strategies (GDS) to manage the signature collection process. Companies hired to circulate petitions have used “fraudulent, deceitful, and illegal” practices. That includes paying petition workers based on signatures collected, which is against state law, instead of hours worked.

In one instance, the countersuit claims one collector, Matthew Leeks, submitted a turn-in sheet, but it was adjusted because he did not bring in enough signatures for the 10 hours he claimed. Instead, it was adjusted to 5.75 hours to match the 23 signatures he collected. A photo of the timesheet includes a sticky note indicating the reduced hours based on the signatures gathered.

FVC has submitted more than 400,000 signatures that elections officials have verified, the suit states.

All these petitions from the illegal payment scheme instituted by GDS were obtained illegally… and may not be certified in an effort to change Florida’s Constitution,” the countersuit states.

To be placed on the ballot, election officials must verify 891,589 signatures by Feb. 1.

Besides making pay-per-signature claims, Standing Up for Florida alleges Grassfire, one of the companies hired to collect signatures for the FVC measure, purposefully destroyed petitions, which also violates state law. According to the countersuit, Grassfire told a staffing firm it contracted with to hire petition circulators and managers to shred thousands of signed petitions. The petitions were destroyed if they were not complete or legible or if the signature was potentially fraudulent.

Florida law mandates that all petitions be submitted for review.

The suit claims Tina Frazier, a former manager for Grassfire, is a whistleblower and has reported the shredding allegations to state law enforcement.