Bill Text: FL S0190 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Ballot Boxes

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2024-03-08 - Died in Ethics and Elections [S0190 Detail]

Download: Florida-2024-S0190-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2024                                     SB 190
       
       
        
       By Senator Garcia
       
       
       
       
       
       36-00285-24                                            2024190__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to ballot boxes; amending s. 101.24,
    3         F.S.; requiring a law enforcement officer to transport
    4         ballot boxes or ballot transfer containers from a
    5         supervisor of elections to a precinct; requiring that
    6         all ballot boxes and ballot transfer containers be
    7         supervised by a law enforcement officer at all times;
    8         amending s. 102.071, F.S.; requiring all ballot boxes,
    9         ballots, ballot stubs, memoranda, and papers to be
   10         transported by a law enforcement officer; making
   11         technical changes; amending s. 102.101, F.S.;
   12         conforming provisions to changes made by the act;
   13         providing an effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Section 101.24, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   18  read:
   19         101.24 Ballot boxes and ballots.—
   20         (1) The supervisor of elections shall prepare for each
   21  polling place one ballot box of sufficient size to contain all
   22  the ballots of the particular precinct, and the ballot box shall
   23  be plainly marked with the name of the precinct for which it is
   24  intended. An additional ballot box, if necessary, may be
   25  supplied to any precinct. Before each election, the supervisor
   26  shall place in the ballot box or ballot transfer container as
   27  many ballots as are required in s. 101.21. After securely
   28  sealing the ballot box or ballot transfer container, the
   29  supervisor shall send the ballot box or ballot transfer
   30  container to the clerk or inspector of election of the precinct
   31  in which it is to be used. A law enforcement officer shall
   32  transport the ballot box or ballot transfer container from the
   33  supervisor to the precinct. The clerk or inspector shall be
   34  placed under oath or affirmation to perform his or her duties
   35  faithfully and without favor or prejudice to any political
   36  party.
   37         (2) A ballot box or ballot transfer container must be under
   38  the supervision of a law enforcement officer at all times during
   39  an election until such ballot box or ballot transfer container
   40  has been transported to the supervisor.
   41         Section 2. Section 102.071, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   42  read:
   43         102.071 Tabulation of votes and proclamation of results.
   44  The election board shall post at the polls, for the benefit of
   45  the public, the results of the voting for each office or other
   46  item on the ballot as the count is completed. Upon completion of
   47  all counts in all races, a certificate of the results must shall
   48  be drawn up by the inspectors and clerk at each precinct upon a
   49  form provided by the supervisor of elections which must shall
   50  contain the name of each person voted for, for each office, and
   51  the number of votes cast for each person for such office; and,
   52  if any question is submitted, the certificate must shall also
   53  contain the number of votes cast for and against the question.
   54  The certificate must shall be signed by the inspectors and clerk
   55  and must shall be delivered without delay by one of the
   56  inspectors, securely sealed, to the supervisor for immediate
   57  publication. All the ballot boxes, ballots, ballot stubs,
   58  memoranda, and papers of all kinds used in the election must
   59  shall also be transported transmitted, after being sealed by the
   60  inspectors, to the supervisor’s office by a law enforcement
   61  officer. Registration books and the poll lists may shall not be
   62  placed in the ballot boxes but must shall be returned to the
   63  supervisor.
   64         Section 3. Section 102.101, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   65  read:
   66         102.101 Sheriff and other officers not allowed in polling
   67  place.—Except as provided in ss. 101.24 and 102.071, a sheriff,
   68  a deputy sheriff, a police officer, a special officer appointed
   69  pursuant to s. 102.091, or any other officer of the law is not
   70  allowed within a polling place without permission from the clerk
   71  or a majority of the inspectors, except to cast his or her
   72  ballot. Upon the failure of any such officer to comply with this
   73  section, the clerk or the inspectors must make an affidavit
   74  against the officer for his or her arrest.
   75         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.