Bill Text: FL S1198 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Elections
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2013-05-03 - Died in Ethics and Elections, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/HB 7013 (Ch. 2013-57) [S1198 Detail]
Download: Florida-2013-S1198-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2013 SB 1198 By Senator Sachs 34-01445-13 20131198__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to elections; amending s. 101.045, 3 F.S.; authorizing an elector who changes his or her 4 legal residence to vote in the precinct to which he or 5 she has moved even if the change of residence is not 6 within the same county; amending s. 101.161, F.S.; 7 limiting the ballot summary of a joint resolution to 8 75 words in length; deleting a provision that 9 authorizes the use of multiple ballot statements to 10 explain a joint resolution proposal; deleting a 11 presumption that a ballot statement consisting of the 12 full text of an amendment or revision is a clear and 13 unambiguous statement of the substance and effect of 14 the measure; amending s. 101.62, F.S.; revising the 15 dates for when an absentee ballot request must be 16 received and mailed; amending s. 101.657, F.S.; 17 revising and expanding locations that may be 18 designated as early voting sites; deleting a 19 requirement that an early voting site be designated 20 and used as such for at least 1 year before an 21 election; increasing and specifying the days and hours 22 for conducting early voting at certain elections; 23 providing an effective date. 24 25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 26 27 Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 101.045, Florida 28 Statutes, is amended to read: 29 101.045 Electors must be registered in precinct; provisions 30 for change of residence or name.— 31 (2)(a) An elector who moves from the precinct in which the 32 elector is registered may be permitted to vote in the precinct 33 to which he or she has moved his or her legal residence, ifthe34change of residence is within the same county andthe elector 35 completes an affirmation in substantially the following form: 36 37 Change of Legal Residence of Registered 38 Voter 39 40 Under penalties for false swearing, I, ...(Name of voter)..., 41 swear (or affirm) that the former address of my legal residence 42 was ...(Address of legal residence)... in the municipality of 43 ...., in .... County, Florida, and I was registered to vote in 44 the .... precinct of .... County, Florida; that I have not voted 45 in the precinct of my former registration in this election; that 46 I now reside at ...(Address of legal residence)... in the 47 Municipality of ...., in .... County, Florida, and am therefore 48 eligible to vote in the .... precinct of .... County, Florida; 49 and I further swear (or affirm) that I am otherwise legally 50 registered and entitled to vote. 51 52 ...(Signature of voter whose address of legal residence has 53 changed)... 54 55(b) Except for an active uniformed services voter or a56member of his or her family, an elector whose change of address57is from outside the county may not change his or her legal58residence at the polling place and vote a regular ballot;59however, such elector is entitled to vote a provisional ballot.60 (b)(c)An elector whose name changes because of marriage or 61 other legal process may be permitted to vote, provided such 62 elector completes an affirmation in substantially the following 63 form: 64 65 Change of Name of Registered 66 Voter 67 68 Under penalties for false swearing, I, ...(New name of 69 voter)..., swear (or affirm) that my name has been changed 70 because of marriage or other legal process. My former name and 71 address of legal residence appear on the registration records of 72 precinct .... as follows: 73 Name.... 74 Address.... 75 Municipality.... 76 County.... 77 Florida, Zip.... 78 My present name and address of legal residence are as follows: 79 Name.... 80 Address.... 81 Municipality.... 82 County.... 83 Florida, Zip.... 84 and I further swear (or affirm) that I am otherwise legally 85 registered and entitled to vote. 86 87 ...(Signature of voter whose name has changed)... 88 89 (c)(d)Instead of the affirmation contained in paragraph 90 (a) or paragraph (b)(c), an elector may complete a voter 91 registration application that indicates the change of name or 92 change of address of legal residence. 93 (d)(e)Such affirmation or application, when completed and 94 presented at the precinct in which such elector is entitled to 95 vote, and upon verification of the elector’s registration, shall 96 entitle such elector to vote as provided in this subsection. If 97 the elector’s eligibility to vote cannot be determined, he or 98 she shall be entitled to vote a provisional ballot, subject to 99 the requirements and procedures in s. 101.048. Upon receipt of 100 an affirmation or application certifying a change in address of 101 legal residence or name, the supervisor shall as soon as 102 practicable make the necessary changes in the statewide voter 103 registration system to indicate the change in address of legal 104 residence or name of such elector. 105 Section 2. Subsections (1) and (3) of section 101.161, 106 Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 107 101.161 Referenda; ballots.— 108 (1) Whenever a constitutional amendment or other public 109 measure is submitted to the vote of the people, a ballot summary 110 of such amendment or other public measure shall be printed in 111 clear and unambiguous language on the ballot after the list of 112 candidates, followed by the word “yes” and also by the word 113 “no,” and shall be styled in such a manner that a “yes” vote 114 will indicate approval of the proposal and a “no” vote will 115 indicate rejection. The ballot summary of the amendment or other 116 public measure and the ballot title to appear on the ballot 117 shall be embodied in the joint resolution, constitutional 118 revision commission proposal, constitutional convention 119 proposal, taxation and budget reform commission proposal, or 120 enabling resolution or ordinance. The ballot summary of the 121 amendment or other public measure shall be an explanatory 122 statement, not exceeding 75 words in length, of the chief 123 purpose of the measure. In addition, for every amendment 124 proposed by initiative, the ballot shall include, following the 125 ballot summary, a separate financial impact statement concerning 126 the measure prepared by the Financial Impact Estimating 127 Conference in accordance with s. 100.371(5). The ballot title 128 shall consist of a caption, not exceeding 15 words in length, by 129 which the measure is commonly referred to or spoken of. This 130 subsection does not apply to constitutional amendments or 131 revisions proposed by joint resolution. 132 (3)(a)Each joint resolution that proposes a constitutional133amendment or revision shall include one or more ballot134statements set forth in order of priority. Each ballot statement135shall consist of a ballot title, by which the measure is136commonly referred to or spoken of, not exceeding 15 words in137length, and either a ballot summary that describes the chief138purpose of the amendment or revision in clear and unambiguous139language, or the full text of the amendment or revision. The140Department of State shall furnish a designating number pursuant141to subsection (2) and the appropriate ballot statement to the142supervisor of elections of each county. The ballot statement143shall be printed on the ballot after the list of candidates,144followed by the word “yes” and also by the word “no,” and shall145be styled in such a manner that a “yes” vote will indicate146approval of the amendment or revision and a “no” vote will147indicate rejection.148(b)1.Any action for a judicial determination that the 149 ballot title or summaryone or more ballot statementsembodied 150 in a joint resolution isaredefective must be commenced by 151 filing a complaint or petition with the appropriate court within 152 30 days after the joint resolution is filed with the Secretary 153 of State. The complaint or petition shall assert all grounds for 154 challenge to the ballot title or summaryeach ballot statement. 155 Any ground not asserted within 30 days after the joint 156 resolution is filed with the Secretary of State is waived. 157 (b)2.The court, including any appellate court, shall 158 accord an action described in paragraph (a)subparagraph 1.159 priority over other pending cases and render a decision as 160 expeditiously as possible. If the court finds that the ballot 161 title or summary isall ballot statements embodied in a joint162resolution aredefective and further appeals are declined, 163 abandoned, or exhausted, unless otherwise provided in the joint 164 resolution, the Attorney General shall, within 10 days, prepare 165 and submit to the Department of State a revised ballot title or 166 ballot summary that corrects the deficiencies identified by the 167 court, and the Department of State shall furnish a designating 168 number and the revised ballot title or ballot summary to the 169 supervisor of elections of each county for placement on the 170 ballot. The court shall retain jurisdiction over challenges to a 171 revised ballot title or ballot summary prepared by the Attorney 172 General, and any challenge to a revised ballot title or ballot 173 summary must be filed within 10 days after a revised ballot 174 title or ballot summary is submitted to the Department of State. 1753. A ballot statement that consists of the full text of an176amendment or revision shall be presumed to be a clear and177unambiguous statement of the substance and effect of the178amendment or revision, providing fair notice to the electors of179the content of the amendment or revision and sufficiently180advising electors of the issue upon which they are to vote.181 Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 101.62, Florida 182 Statutes, is amended to read: 183 101.62 Request for absentee ballots.— 184 (2) A request for an absentee ballot to be mailed to a 185 voter must be received no later than 5 p.m. on the fifteenth 186sixthday before the election by the supervisor of elections. 187 The supervisor of elections shall mail absentee ballots to 188 voters requesting ballots by such deadline no later than 134189 days before the election. 190 Section 4. Paragraphs (a) and (d) of subsection (1) of 191 section 101.657, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 192 101.657 Early voting.— 193 (1)(a) As a convenience to the voter, the supervisor of 194 elections shall allow an elector to vote early in the main or 195 branch office of the supervisor. The supervisor shall mark, 196 code, indicate on, or otherwise track the voter’s precinct for 197 each early voted ballot.In order for a branch office to be used198for early voting, it shall be a permanent facility of the199supervisor and shall have been designated and used as such for200at least 1 year prior to the election.The supervisor may also 201 designate as an early voting site any suitable location in the 202 county, including any city hall or permanent public library 203 facilityas early voting sites; however, if so designated, the 204 sites must be geographically located so as to provide all voters 205 in the county an equal opportunity to cast a ballot, insofar as 206 is practicable. The results or tabulation of votes cast during 207 early voting may not be made before the close of the polls on 208 election day. Results shall be reported by precinct. 209 (d) Early voting shall begin on the 15th10thday before an 210 election that contains state or federal races and end on the 2nd 2113rdday before the election, and shall be provided for at least 212no less than6 hours but notand nomore than 12 hours per day 213 at each site during the applicable period. For purposes of a 214 primary election or a special election held pursuant to s. 215 100.101, early voting shall begin on the 8th day before the 216 election and end on the 2nd day before the election. Early 217 voting shall be provided for 8 hours per day at each site during 218 the applicable period and an aggregate of at least 8 hours on 219 the weekend. The supervisor of elections may provide early 220 voting for elections that are not held in conjunction with a 221 state or federal election. However, the supervisor has the 222 discretion to determine the hours of operation of early voting 223 sites in those elections. 224 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.