Florida Senate - 2019 SB 1760
By Senator Taddeo
40-01494-19 20191760__
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 administered by the Department of Highway
5 Safety and Motor Vehicles; providing that driver
6 license or identification card applications, driver
7 license or identification card renewal applications,
8 and changes of address for existing driver licenses or
9 identification cards submitted to the department serve
10 as voter registration applications; specifying that an
11 applicant must consent to the use of his or her
12 signature for voter registration purposes; requiring
13 the department to include a voter registration
14 component on specified applications; requiring the
15 Department of State to approve the voter registration
16 component; specifying required content for the voter
17 registration component; providing for paper-based
18 applications; requiring the supervisor of elections to
19 provide a notification of registration to each
20 applicant; providing that an applicant is registered,
21 or has his or her voter registration record updated,
22 if he or she fails to respond to the notification
23 within a specified timeframe; requiring the supervisor
24 to forward declinations to the statewide voter
25 registration system; amending s. 98.045, F.S.;
26 conforming a cross-reference; providing an effective
27 date.
28
29 WHEREAS, voter registration is one of the biggest barriers
30 to full participation in our democracy, and
31 WHEREAS, Congress enacted the National Voter Registration
32 Act of 1993, commonly known as the “Motor Voter Act,” with
33 findings recognizing that the right of citizens to vote is a
34 fundamental right and that federal, state, and local governments
35 have the duty to promote the exercise of this right, and
36 WHEREAS, the Legislature intends to provide residents of
37 this state with enhanced access to participate in democracy
38 through the exercise of their fundamental right to vote by
39 streamlining and modernizing voter registration procedures used
40 by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, NOW,
41 THEREFORE,
42
43 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
44
45 Section 1. Present subsections (6) through (12) of section
46 97.057, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (8)
47 through (14), respectively, subsections (1) through (5) of that
48 section are amended, and new subsections (6) and (7) are added
49 to that section, to read:
50 97.057 Voter registration by the Department of Highway
51 Safety and Motor Vehicles.—
52 (Substantial rewording of subsections. See
53 s. 97.057(1)-(5), F.S., for present text.)
54 (1) Each of the following serves as an application to
55 register to vote or to update a voter registration record when
56 submitted to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
57 Vehicles:
58 (a) An application for a driver license, including a
59 renewal application or a change of address for an existing
60 driver license.
61 (b) An application for an identification card issued
62 pursuant to chapter 322, including a renewal application or a
63 change of address for an existing identification card.
64
65 For voter registration purposes, an applicant must consent to
66 the use of the signature from his or her driver license or
67 identification card application unless the applicant declines to
68 register to vote or declines to update his or her voter
69 registration record.
70 (2) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
71 shall include a voter registration component on the application
72 for a driver license or an identification card. The voter
73 registration component of a driver license or an identification
74 card application shall be approved by the Department of State
75 and must contain:
76 (a) The minimum amount of information necessary to prevent
77 duplicate voter registrations and preserve the ability of the
78 department and supervisors of elections to assess the
79 eligibility of the applicant and to administer voter
80 registration and other provisions of the Florida Election Code.
81 (b) A statement setting forth voting eligibility
82 requirements.
83 (c) A statement explaining that the applicant consents, for
84 voter registration purposes, to the use of his or her signature
85 from the applicant’s driver license or identification card
86 application. By consenting to the use of his or her signature,
87 the applicant is deemed to have subscribed to the oath required
88 by s. 3, Art. VI of the State Constitution and s. 97.051 and to
89 have sworn and affirmed that the voter registration information
90 contained in the application is true under penalty for false
91 swearing pursuant to s. 104.011.
92 (d) An option that allows the applicant to decline to
93 register to vote or to decline to update his or her voter
94 registration record. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor
95 Vehicles shall note any such declination in its records and
96 forward the declination to the statewide voter registration
97 system.
98 (3) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
99 shall develop a voter registration component for paper-based
100 renewal applications which meets the requirements in subsection
101 (2) and is approved by the Department of State.
102 (4) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
103 shall electronically transmit the voter registration component
104 of an applicant’s driver license or identification card
105 application to the statewide voter registration system within 24
106 hours after receipt. Upon receipt of the voter registration
107 component, the Department of State shall provide the information
108 to the supervisor of the county in which the applicant has been
109 registered as an elector. For completed paper-based
110 applications, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
111 Vehicles shall forward the voter registration component to the
112 supervisor of the county where the office that processes or
113 receives that application is located within 5 days after
114 receipt.
115 (5) Following receipt of the voter registration component,
116 the supervisor shall notify each applicant of the process to:
117 (a) Decline being registered as an elector or decline to
118 update his or her voter registration record.
119 (b) Designate a party affiliation if the applicant is not
120 currently registered to vote in this state.
121 (6) If an applicant who is notified under subsection (5)
122 does not decline to be registered as an elector or does not
123 decline to update his or her voter registration record within 21
124 calendar days after the supervisor issues the notification, the
125 applicant’s voter registration component of his or her
126 application constitutes a completed voter registration
127 application for purposes of this chapter. The applicant shall be
128 registered to vote if the supervisor determines that the
129 applicant is eligible to vote under s. 97.041 and the applicant
130 is not already registered to vote. An applicant who does not
131 respond to the notification to designate a party affiliation
132 shall be registered without party affiliation as provided under
133 s. 97.053(5)(b).
134 (7) If an applicant declines to register to vote or
135 declines to update his or her voter registration record after
136 receiving a notification issued pursuant to subsection (5), the
137 supervisor shall note such declination in his or her records and
138 forward the declination to the statewide voter registration
139 system. However, an applicant’s declination may not be used for
140 any purpose other than voter registration.
141 Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section
142 98.045, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
143 98.045 Administration of voter registration.—
144 (4) STATEWIDE ELECTRONIC DATABASE OF VALID RESIDENTIAL
145 STREET ADDRESSES.—
146 (b) The department shall make the statewide database of
147 valid street addresses available to the Department of Highway
148 Safety and Motor Vehicles as provided in s. 97.057(12) s.
149 97.057(10). The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
150 shall use the database for purposes of validating the legal
151 residential addresses provided in voter registration
152 applications received by the Department of Highway Safety and
153 Motor Vehicles.
154 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.