“They’re doing what they’re supposed to do,” DeSantis said when asked during a news conference in Miami Lakes on Monday.

His comments were the first he’s made publicly on a broad and unusual effort by the Florida Department of State. In the last two weeks, the state sent requests to at least six county elections supervisors seeking copies of tens of thousands of signed and verified petitions in support of Amendment 4. The amendment, if approved by 60% of voters in November, would protect abortion access in Florida until viability.

State police have also knocked on some Floridians’ doors to question whether they really signed petitions to get the amendment on the ballot. The group behind the amendment collected nearly 1 million verified petitions.

One county supervisor told the Times the requests from the state were unprecedented. The state did not ask for rejected petitions — which have been the basis for past fraud cases — but instead only asked for already verified signatures.