Bill Text: FL S0706 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Voter Registration
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2021-04-30 - Died in Ethics and Elections [S0706 Detail]
Download: Florida-2021-S0706-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2021 SB 706 By Senator Taddeo 40-00544-21 2021706__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to voter registration; amending s. 3 97.057, F.S.; revising procedures governing voter 4 registration by the Department of Highway Safety and 5 Motor Vehicles; providing that driver license or 6 identification card applications, driver license or 7 identification card renewal applications, and 8 applications for changes of address for existing 9 driver licenses or identification cards submitted to 10 the department serve as voter registration 11 applications; specifying that an applicant is deemed 12 to have consented to the use of his or her signature 13 for voter registration purposes, unless a declination 14 is made; requiring specified applications to include a 15 voter registration component, subject to approval by 16 the Department of State; specifying requirements for 17 the voter registration component; providing for the 18 transmittal of voter registration information to the 19 Department of State and supervisors of elections; 20 amending s. 98.045, F.S.; conforming a cross 21 reference; providing an effective date. 22 23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 24 25 Section 1. Section 97.057, Florida Statutes, is amended to 26 read: 27 97.057 Voter registration by the Department of Highway 28 Safety and Motor Vehicles.— 29 (1) Each of the following serves as an applicationThe30Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall provide31the opportunityto register to vote or to update a voter 32 registration record when submitted to the Department of Highway 33 Safety and Motor Vehiclesto each individual who comes to an34office of that department to: 35 (a) An applicationApplyfor a driver license or a renewal 36 ofrenewa driver license; 37 (b) An applicationApplyfor an identification card 38 pursuant to chapter 322 or a renewal ofrenewan identification 39 cardpursuant to chapter 322; or 40 (c) An application for a change ofanaddress on an 41 existing driver license or identification card. 42 43 Unless the applicant declines to register to vote or to update 44 his or her voter registration record, he or she is deemed to 45 have consented to the use of the signature from his or her 46 driver license or identification card application for voter 47 registration purposes. 48 (2) An application for a driver license or an 49 identification card must include a voter registration component. 50 The voter registration component must be approved by the 51 Department of State. The voter registration component of a 52 driver license or identification card application must contain: 53 (a) The minimum amount of information necessary to prevent 54 duplicate voter registrations and preserve the ability of the 55 department and supervisors of elections to assess the 56 eligibility of the applicant and administer voter registration 57 and other provisions of this code. 58 (b) A statement setting forth voting eligibility 59 requirements. 60 (c) An explanation that the applicant is consenting, for 61 voter registration purposes, to the use of his or her signature 62 from the applicant’s driver license or identification card 63 application. By consenting to the use of his or her signature, 64 the applicant is deemed to have subscribed to the oath required 65 by s. 3, Art. VI of the State Constitution and s. 97.051 and to 66 have sworn and affirmed that the voter registration information 67 contained in the application is true under penalty for false 68 swearing pursuant to s. 104.011. 69 (d) An option that allows the applicant to choose or update 70 a party affiliation; otherwise, an applicant who is initially 71 registering to vote and does not exercise such option shall be 72 registered without party affiliation in accordance with s. 73 97.053(5)(b). 74 (e) An option that allows the applicant to decline to 75 register to vote or to decline to update his or her voter 76 registration record. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor 77 Vehicles shall note any such declination in its records and 78 forward the declination to the Department of State. Any 79 declination may be used only for voter registration purposes and 80 is confidential and exempt from public records requirements as 81 provided in s. 97.0585. 82 (3) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 83 shall: 84 (a) Develop a voter registration component for applications 85 which meets the requirements set forth in subsection (2).Notify86each individual, orally or in writing, that:871. Information gathered for the completion of a driver88license or identification card application, renewal, or change89of address can be automatically transferred to a voter90registration application;912. If additional information and a signature are provided,92the voter registration application will be completed and sent to93the proper election authority;943. Information provided can also be used to update a voter95registration record;964. All declinations will remain confidential and may be97used only for voter registration purposes; and985. The particular driver license office in which the person99applies to register to vote or updates a voter registration100record will remain confidential and may be used only for voter101registration purposes.102(b) Require a driver license examiner to inquire orally or,103if the applicant is hearing impaired, inquire in writing whether104the applicant wishes to register to vote or update a voter105registration record during the completion of a driver license or106identification card application, renewal, or change of address.1071. If the applicant chooses to register to vote or to108update a voter registration record:109a. All applicable information received by the Department of110Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in the course of filling out111the forms necessary under subsection (1) must be transferred to112a voter registration application.113b. The additional necessary information must be obtained by114the driver license examiner and must not duplicate any115information already obtained while completing the forms required116under subsection (1).117c. A voter registration application with all of the118applicant’s voter registration information required to establish119the applicant’s eligibility pursuant to s. 97.041 must be120presented to the applicant to review and verify the voter121registration information received and provide an electronic122signature affirming the accuracy of the information provided.1232. If the applicant declines to register to vote, update124the applicant’s voter registration record, or change the125applicant’s address by either orally declining or by failing to126sign the voter registration application, the Department of127Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles must note such declination on128its records and shall forward the declination to the statewide129voter registration system.130(3) For the purpose of this section, the Department of131Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, with the approval of the132Department of State, shall prescribe:133(a) A voter registration application that is the same in134content, format, and size as the uniform statewide voter135registration application prescribed under s. 97.052; and136 (b)A form that will inform applicants under subsection (1)137of the information contained in paragraph (2)(a).138(4)The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles139mustElectronically transmit the voter registration component of 140 an applicant’s driver license or identification card application 141 to the Department of Statecompleted voter registration142applicationswithin 24 hours after receiptto the statewide143voter registration system. Upon receipt of the voter 144 registration component, the Department of State shall provide 145 the information to the supervisor of the county in which the 146 applicant is registeringCompleted paper voter registration147applications received by the Department of Highway Safety and148Motor Vehicles shall be forwarded within 5 days after receipt to149the supervisor of the county where the office that processed or150received that application is located. 151(5) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles152must send, with each driver license renewal extension153application authorized pursuant to s. 322.18(8), a uniform154statewide voter registration application, the voter registration155application prescribed under paragraph (3)(a), or a voter156registration application developed especially for the purposes157of this subsection by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor158Vehicles, with the approval of the Department of State, which159must meet the requirements of s. 97.052.160 (4)(6)A person providing voter registration services for a 161 driver license office may not: 162 (a) Seek to influence an applicant’s political preference 163 or party registration; 164 (b) Display any political preference or party allegiance; 165 (c) Make any statement to an applicant or take any action 166 the purpose or effect of which is to discourage the applicant 167 from registering to vote; or 168 (d) Disclose any applicant’s voter registration information 169 except as needed for the administration of voter registration. 170 (5)(7)The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 171 shall collect data determined necessary by the Department of 172 State for program evaluation and reporting to the Election 173 Assistance Commission pursuant to federal law. 174 (6)(8)The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 175 shallmustensure that all voter registration services provided 176 by driver license offices are in compliance with the Voting 177 Rights Act of 1965. 178 (7)(9)The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 179 shall retain complete records of voter registration information 180 received, processed, and submitted to the Department of State 181statewide voter registration systemby the Department of Highway 182 Safety and Motor Vehicles. The maintenance of suchTheserecords 183 isshall befor the explicit purpose of supporting audit and 184 accounting controls established to ensure accurate and complete 185 electronic transmission of records between the Department of 186 Statestatewide voter registration systemand the Department of 187 Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. 188 (8)(10)The Department of State shall provide the 189 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles with an 190 electronic database of street addresses valid for use as the 191 address of legal residence as required in s. 97.053(5). The 192 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall compare 193 the address provided by the applicant against the database of 194 valid street addresses. If the address provided by the applicant 195 does not match a valid street address in the database, the 196 applicant will be asked to verify the address provided. The 197 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles mayshallnot 198 reject any application for voter registration for which a valid 199 match cannot be made. 200 (9)(11)The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 201 shall enter into an agreement with the Department of State to 202 match information in the statewide voter registration system 203 with information in the database of the Department of Highway 204 Safety and Motor Vehicles to the extent required to verify the 205 accuracy of the driver license number, Florida identification 206 number, or last four digits of the social security number 207 provided on applications for voter registration as required in 208 s. 97.053. 209 (10)(12)The Department of Highway Safety and Motor 210 Vehicles shall enter into an agreement with the Commissioner of 211 Social Security as required by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 212 to verify the last four digits of the social security number 213 provided in applications for voter registration as required in 214 s. 97.053. 215 Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 216 98.045, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 217 98.045 Administration of voter registration.— 218 (4) STATEWIDE ELECTRONIC DATABASE OF VALID RESIDENTIAL 219 STREET ADDRESSES.— 220 (b) The department shall make the statewide database of 221 valid street addresses available to the Department of Highway 222 Safety and Motor Vehicles as provided in s. 97.057(8)s.22397.057(10). The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 224 shall use the database for purposes of validating the legal 225 residential addresses provided in voter registration 226 applications received by the Department of Highway Safety and 227 Motor Vehicles. 228 Section 3. This act shall take effect January 1, 2022.