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.
  146  97.057(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.