Bill Text: FL S1016 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Voter Registration
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-03-11 - Died in Ethics and Elections [S1016 Detail]
Download: Florida-2016-S1016-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2016 SB 1016 By Senator Clemens 27-00365-16 20161016__ 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, license or 7 identification card renewal applications, and address 8 updates for existing driver licenses or identification 9 cards submitted to the department serve as voter 10 registration applications; specifying that an 11 applicant consents to the use of his or her signature 12 for voter registration purposes; requiring specified 13 applications to include a voter registration 14 component; specifying required content for the voter 15 registration component; providing for paper-based 16 applications; requiring the supervisor of elections to 17 provide a notification of registration to each 18 applicant; providing that an applicant is registered 19 if he or she fails to respond to the notification 20 within a specified timeframe; requiring the supervisor 21 to forward declinations to the statewide voter 22 registration system; amending s. 98.045, F.S.; 23 conforming a cross-reference; providing an effective 24 date. 25 26 WHEREAS, voter registration is one of the biggest barriers 27 to participation in our democracy, and 28 WHEREAS, in 1993, Congress enacted the National Voter 29 Registration Act of 1993, commonly known as the “Motor Voter 30 Act,” with findings recognizing that the right of citizens to 31 vote is a fundamental right and that federal, state, and local 32 governments have the duty to promote the exercise of this right, 33 and 34 WHEREAS, the Legislature intends to provide residents of 35 this state with enhanced access to participate in democracy 36 through exercise of their fundamental right to vote by 37 streamlining and modernizing voter registration procedures used 38 by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, NOW, 39 THEREFORE, 40 41 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 42 43 Section 1. Subsections (1) through (5) of section 97.057, 44 Florida Statutes, are amended, new subsections (6) and (7) are 45 added to that section, and present subsections (6) through (12) 46 of that section are renumbered as subsections (8) through (14), 47 respectively, to read: 48 97.057 Voter registration by the Department of Highway 49 Safety and Motor Vehicles.— 50 (Substantial rewording of subsections. See 51 s. 97.057(1)-(5), F.S., for present text.) 52 (1) Each of the following serves as an application to 53 register to vote or to update a voter registration record when 54 submitted to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor 55 Vehicles: 56 (a) An application for a driver license, including a 57 renewal application or an address update for an existing driver 58 license. 59 (b) An application for an identification card issued 60 pursuant to chapter 322, including a renewal application or an 61 address update for an existing identification card. 62 63 For voter registration purposes, an applicant shall consent to 64 the use of the signature from his or her driver license or 65 identification card application unless the applicant declines to 66 register to vote or declines to update his or her voter 67 registration record. 68 (2) An application for a driver license or an 69 identification card must include a voter registration component. 70 The voter registration component must be approved by the 71 Department of State. The voter registration component of a 72 driver license or identification card application must contain: 73 (a) The minimum amount of information necessary to prevent 74 duplicate voter registrations and preserve the ability of the 75 department and supervisors of elections to assess the 76 eligibility of the applicant and to administer voter 77 registration and other parts of the election process. 78 (b) A statement setting forth voting eligibility 79 requirements. 80 (c) An explanation that the applicant has consented, for 81 voter registration purposes, to the use of his or her signature 82 from the applicant’s driver license or identification card 83 application. By consenting to the use of his or her signature, 84 the applicant is deemed to have subscribed to the oath required 85 by s. 3, Art. VI of the State Constitution and s. 97.051 and to 86 have sworn and affirmed that the voter registration information 87 contained in the application is true under penalty for false 88 swearing pursuant to s. 104.011. 89 (d) An option that allows the applicant to decline to 90 register to vote or to decline to update his or her voter 91 registration record. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor 92 Vehicles shall note any such declination on its records and 93 forward the declination to the statewide voter registration 94 system. 95 (3) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 96 shall develop a voter registration component for paper-based 97 renewal applications which meets the requirements specified in 98 subsection (2). The voter registration component must be 99 approved by the Department of State. 100 (4) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 101 shall electronically transmit the voter registration component 102 of an applicant’s driver license or identification card 103 application to the statewide voter registration system within 24 104 hours after receipt. Upon receipt of the voter registration 105 component, the Department of State shall provide the information 106 to the supervisor of the county in which the applicant has been 107 registered as an elector. For completed paper-based 108 applications, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor 109 Vehicles shall forward the voter registration component to the 110 supervisor of the county in which the office that processes or 111 receives that application is located within 5 days after 112 receipt. 113 (5) Following receipt of voter registration information, 114 the supervisor shall notify each applicant of the process to: 115 (a) Decline being registered as an elector or decline to 116 update his or her voter registration record. 117 (b) Adopt a political party affiliation if the applicant is 118 not currently registered to vote in this state. 119 (6) If an applicant who is notified under subsection (5) 120 does not decline to be registered as an elector or to update his 121 or her voter registration record within 21 calendar days after 122 the supervisor issues the notification, the applicant’s voter 123 registration component of his or her application constitutes a 124 completed voter registration for purposes of this chapter. The 125 applicant shall be registered to vote if the supervisor 126 determines that the applicant is eligible to vote under s. 127 97.041 and the applicant is not already registered to vote. An 128 applicant who does not respond to the notification to adopt a 129 political party affiliation shall be registered without party 130 affiliation as provided under s. 97.053(5)(b). 131 (7) If an applicant declines to register to vote or to 132 update his or her voter registration record after receiving a 133 notification issued pursuant to subsection (5), the supervisor 134 shall note such declination on his or her records and forward 135 the declination to the statewide voter registration system. 136 However, an applicant’s declination may not be used for any 137 purpose other than voter registration. 138 Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 139 98.045, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 140 98.045 Administration of voter registration.— 141 (4) STATEWIDE ELECTRONIC DATABASE OF VALID RESIDENTIAL 142 STREET ADDRESSES.— 143 (b) The department shall make the statewide database of 144 valid street addresses available to the Department of Highway 145 Safety and Motor Vehicles as provided in s. 97.057(12)s.14697.057(10). The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 147 shall use the database for purposes of validating the legal 148 residential addresses provided in voter registration 149 applications received by the Department of Highway Safety and 150 Motor Vehicles. 151 Section 3. This act shall take effect January 1, 2017.