This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

There may have been a lot of criminal activity in the scheme to put a pro-abortion amendment on Florida's election ballot this year.

A report from Liberty Counsel, which is opposing the amendment that would allow just about any abortion at any time anywhere by anyone, confirms the state Office of Election Crimes & Security has opened more than 100 investigations into potential fraud.

"According to a recent 348-page interim report released by the OECS, state officials are investigating complaints that point to at least 35 paid signature gatherers who submitted nearly 37,000 petitions with suspected voter signature forgeries" pushing for Amendment 4 to be on the ballot.

The report said the paid signature gatherers are associated with "Floridians Protecting Freedom," a pro-abortion industry organization pushing for special benefits for the lucrative industry.

Liberty Counsel chief Mat Staver explained, "Amendment 4 was already extreme and deceptive, but now it even appears tainted with allegations of fraud. Voters should understand that Amendment 4 will allow abortion up to and during birth when the baby can feel pain, remove all health and safety regulations that protect women and girls during abortion procedures, override parental consent laws, and require Floridians to fund abortions. There is no place for fraud or deception when amending a constitution."

Liberty Counsel explained the state report informs that the allegations may impact voters across 35 counties.

A cover letter, from Florida Deputy Secretary of State for Legal Affairs & Election Integrity Brad McVay, shares details of how state officials were ":inundated with complaints involving FPF and its agents" between late 2023 and early 2024.

Claims included that paid FPF petitioners used signatures from dead people, used non-matching signatures, forged voter signatures, and used personal identifying information without consent, the state confirmed.

McVay also notes that two of FPF's paid associates have already been arrested, charged, convicted, and sentenced for felonies involving election fraud, such as forging voter signatures and submitting invalid petitions.

"Given the credibility of the allegations, OECS has referred over a hundred individual FPF cases to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), which is actively pursuing dozens of criminal investigations together with the office of statewide prosecution," the letter said.

Authorities were alerted when they saw "known fraudsters" submitting petitions in support of the abortion agenda.

"Each of these petitions could correspond to a Floridian who (unbeknownst to him or her) is a victim of felony election fraud," wrote McVay. "This illegal scheme is likely driving the petition fraud outlined above. If a circulator is paid per signature, circulators are incentivized to forge as many signatures as possible to make a quick and easy buck."

McVay also noted that FPF recently was fined $328,000 for election law violations.

Liberty Counsel said, "FPF needed a minimum of 891,523 signatures to get Amendment 4 on the ballot. The group collected 997,035, meaning that more than 105,000 signatures would need to be found as fraudulent in order to disqualify Amendment 4 from the ballot or later void it from taking effect if voters were to approve it."

Florida is not the only state where the abortion industry is pushing for a business-benefiting constitutional change, and where crimes have been alleged.

In a similar dispute in South Dakota, a trial had been scheduled, but now is delayed until after the election.

The trial will determine whether there were illegal actions in obtaining ballot access there for a pro-abortion agenda. While the amendment is on the ballot, if it is confirmed that there were crimes committed, a ruling could say that the results will not be counted, or that the results will not count.

Meanwhile, Life Defense Fund, which is opposing the abortion industry in that state, has requested that the judge rule in its favor without a trial, given the video and witness testimony confirming illegal behavior on the part of the pro-abortion advocates.