Florida Senate - 2022 SB 368 By Senator Berman 31-00344-22 2022368__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to voter registration; amending s. 3 97.055, F.S.; revising the date by which the 4 registration books must be closed before an election; 5 amending s. 97.057, F.S.; revising procedures 6 governing voter registration by the Department of 7 Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; providing that 8 driver license or identification card applications, 9 driver license or identification card renewal 10 applications, and applications for changes of address 11 for existing driver licenses or identification cards 12 submitted to the department serve as voter 13 registration applications; specifying that an 14 applicant is deemed to have consented to the use of 15 his or her signature for voter registration purposes, 16 unless a declination is made; requiring specified 17 applications to include a voter registration 18 component, subject to approval by the Department of 19 State; specifying requirements for the voter 20 registration component; providing for the transmittal 21 of voter registration information to the Department of 22 State and supervisors of elections; amending s. 23 98.045, F.S.; conforming a cross-reference; providing 24 effective dates. 25 26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 27 28 Section 1.Section 97.055, Florida Statutes, is amended to 29 read: 30 97.055Registration books; when closed for an election. 31 (1)(a)The registration books must be closed on the 14th 32 29th day before each election and must remain closed until after 33 that election. If an election is called and there are fewer than 34 14 29 days before that election, the registration books must be 35 closed immediately. 36 (b)Except as provided in paragraph (c), when the 37 registration books are closed for an election, updates to a 38 voters name, address, and signature pursuant to ss. 98.077 and 39 101.045 shall be the only changes permitted for purposes of the 40 upcoming election. New voter registration applications must be 41 accepted but only for the purpose of subsequent elections. 42 (c)When the registration books are closed for an upcoming 43 election, an update or change to a voters party affiliation 44 made pursuant to s. 97.1031 shall be permitted for that upcoming 45 election unless such election is for the purpose of nominating a 46 political party nominee, in which case the update or change 47 shall be permitted only for the purpose of subsequent elections. 48 (2)In computing the 14-day 29-day period for the closing 49 of the registration books, the day of the election is excluded 50 and all other days are included. If the 14th 29th day preceding 51 an election falls on a Sunday or a legal holiday, the 52 registration books must be closed on the next day that is not a 53 Sunday or a legal holiday. 54 Section 2.Effective January 1, 2023, section 97.057, 55 Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 56 97.057Voter registration by the Department of Highway 57 Safety and Motor Vehicles. 58 (1)Each of the following serves as an application The 59 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall provide 60 the opportunity to register to vote or to update a voter 61 registration record when submitted to the Department of Highway 62 Safety and Motor Vehicles to each individual who comes to an 63 office of that department to: 64 (a)An application Apply for a driver license or a renewal 65 of renew a driver license; 66 (b)An application Apply for an identification card 67 pursuant to chapter 322 or a renewal of renew an identification 68 card pursuant to chapter 322; or 69 (c)An application for a change of an address on an 70 existing driver license or identification card. 71 72 Unless the applicant declines to register to vote or to update 73 his or her voter registration record, he or she is deemed to 74 have consented to the use of the signature from his or her 75 driver license or identification card application for voter 76 registration purposes. 77 (2)An application for a driver license or an 78 identification card must include a voter registration component. 79 The voter registration component must be approved by the 80 Department of State. The voter registration component of a 81 driver license or identification card application must contain: 82 (a)The minimum amount of information necessary to prevent 83 duplicate voter registrations and preserve the ability of the 84 department and supervisors of elections to assess the 85 eligibility of the applicant and administer voter registration 86 and other provisions of this code. 87 (b)A statement setting forth voting eligibility 88 requirements. 89 (c)An explanation that the applicant is consenting, for 90 voter registration purposes, to the use of his or her signature 91 from the applicants driver license or identification card 92 application. By consenting to the use of his or her signature, 93 the applicant is deemed to have subscribed to the oath required 94 by s. 3, Art. VI of the State Constitution and s. 97.051 and to 95 have sworn and affirmed that the voter registration information 96 contained in the application is true under penalty for false 97 swearing pursuant to s. 104.011. 98 (d)An option that allows the applicant to choose or update 99 a party affiliation; otherwise, an applicant who is initially 100 registering to vote and does not exercise such option shall be 101 registered without party affiliation in accordance with s. 102 97.053(5)(b). 103 (e)An option that allows the applicant to decline to 104 register to vote or to decline to update his or her voter 105 registration record. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor 106 Vehicles shall note any such declination in its records and 107 forward the declination to the Department of State. Any 108 declination may be used only for voter registration purposes and 109 is confidential and exempt from public records requirements as 110 provided in s. 97.0585. 111 (3)The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 112 shall: 113 (a)Develop a voter registration component for applications 114 which meets the requirements set forth in subsection (2) Notify 115 each individual, orally or in writing, that: 116 1.Information gathered for the completion of a driver 117 license or identification card application, renewal, or change 118 of address can be automatically transferred to a voter 119 registration application; 120 2.If additional information and a signature are provided, 121 the voter registration application will be completed and sent to 122 the proper election authority; 123 3.Information provided can also be used to update a voter 124 registration record; 125 4.All declinations will remain confidential and may be 126 used only for voter registration purposes; and 127 5.The particular driver license office in which the person 128 applies to register to vote or updates a voter registration 129 record will remain confidential and may be used only for voter 130 registration purposes. 131 (b)Require a driver license examiner to inquire orally or, 132 if the applicant is hearing impaired, inquire in writing whether 133 the applicant wishes to register to vote or update a voter 134 registration record during the completion of a driver license or 135 identification card application, renewal, or change of address. 136 1.If the applicant chooses to register to vote or to 137 update a voter registration record: 138 a.All applicable information received by the Department of 139 Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in the course of filling out 140 the forms necessary under subsection (1) must be transferred to 141 a voter registration application. 142 b.The additional necessary information must be obtained by 143 the driver license examiner and must not duplicate any 144 information already obtained while completing the forms required 145 under subsection (1). 146 c.A voter registration application with all of the 147 applicants voter registration information required to establish 148 the applicants eligibility pursuant to s. 97.041 must be 149 presented to the applicant to review and verify the voter 150 registration information received and provide an electronic 151 signature affirming the accuracy of the information provided. 152 2.If the applicant declines to register to vote, update 153 the applicants voter registration record, or change the 154 applicants address by either orally declining or by failing to 155 sign the voter registration application, the Department of 156 Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles must note such declination on 157 its records and shall forward the declination to the statewide 158 voter registration system. 159 (3)For the purpose of this section, the Department of 160 Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, with the approval of the 161 Department of State, shall prescribe: 162 (a)A voter registration application that is the same in 163 content, format, and size as the uniform statewide voter 164 registration application prescribed under s. 97.052; and 165 (b)A form that will inform applicants under subsection (1) 166 of the information contained in paragraph (2)(a). 167 (4)The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 168 must Electronically transmit the voter registration component of 169 an applicants driver license or identification card application 170 to the Department of State completed voter registration 171 applications within 24 hours after receipt to the statewide 172 voter registration system. Upon receipt of the voter 173 registration component, the Department of State shall provide 174 the information to the supervisor of the county in which the 175 applicant is registering Completed paper voter registration 176 applications received by the Department of Highway Safety and 177 Motor Vehicles shall be forwarded within 5 days after receipt to 178 the supervisor of the county where the office that processed or 179 received that application is located. 180 (5)The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 181 must send, with each driver license renewal extension 182 application authorized pursuant to s. 322.18(8), a uniform 183 statewide voter registration application, the voter registration 184 application prescribed under paragraph (3)(a), or a voter 185 registration application developed especially for the purposes 186 of this subsection by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor 187 Vehicles, with the approval of the Department of State, which 188 must meet the requirements of s. 97.052. 189 (4)(6)A person providing voter registration services for a 190 driver license office may not: 191 (a)Seek to influence an applicants political preference 192 or party registration; 193 (b)Display any political preference or party allegiance; 194 (c)Make any statement to an applicant or take any action 195 the purpose or effect of which is to discourage the applicant 196 from registering to vote; or 197 (d)Disclose any applicants voter registration information 198 except as needed for the administration of voter registration. 199 (5)(7)The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 200 shall collect data determined necessary by the Department of 201 State for program evaluation and reporting to the Election 202 Assistance Commission pursuant to federal law. 203 (6)(8)The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 204 shall must ensure that all voter registration services provided 205 by driver license offices are in compliance with the Voting 206 Rights Act of 1965. 207 (7)(9)The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 208 shall retain complete records of voter registration information 209 received, processed, and submitted to the Department of State 210 statewide voter registration system by the Department of Highway 211 Safety and Motor Vehicles. The maintenance of such These records 212 is shall be for the explicit purpose of supporting audit and 213 accounting controls established to ensure accurate and complete 214 electronic transmission of records between the Department of 215 State statewide voter registration system and the Department of 216 Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. 217 (8)(10)The Department of State shall provide the 218 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles with an 219 electronic database of street addresses valid for use as the 220 address of legal residence as required in s. 97.053(5). The 221 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall compare 222 the address provided by the applicant against the database of 223 valid street addresses. If the address provided by the applicant 224 does not match a valid street address in the database, the 225 applicant will be asked to verify the address provided. The 226 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles may shall not 227 reject any application for voter registration for which a valid 228 match cannot be made. 229 (9)(11)The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 230 shall enter into an agreement with the Department of State to 231 match information in the statewide voter registration system 232 with information in the database of the Department of Highway 233 Safety and Motor Vehicles to the extent required to verify the 234 accuracy of the driver license number, Florida identification 235 number, or last four digits of the social security number 236 provided on applications for voter registration as required in 237 s. 97.053. 238 (10)(12)The Department of Highway Safety and Motor 239 Vehicles shall enter into an agreement with the Commissioner of 240 Social Security as required by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 241 to verify the last four digits of the social security number 242 provided in applications for voter registration as required in 243 s. 97.053. 244 (11)(13)The Department of Highway Safety and Motor 245 Vehicles must assist the Department of State in regularly 246 identifying changes in residence address on the driver license 247 or identification card of a voter. The Department of State must 248 report each such change to the appropriate supervisor of 249 elections who must change the voters registration records in 250 accordance with s. 98.065(4). 251 Section 3.Effective January 1, 2023, paragraph (b) of 252 subsection (4) of section 98.045, Florida Statutes, is amended 253 to read: 254 98.045Administration of voter registration. 255 (4)STATEWIDE ELECTRONIC DATABASE OF VALID RESIDENTIAL 256 STREET ADDRESSES. 257 (b)The department shall make the statewide database of 258 valid street addresses available to the Department of Highway 259 Safety and Motor Vehicles as provided in s. 97.057(8) s. 260 97.057(10). The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 261 shall use the database for purposes of validating the legal 262 residential addresses provided in voter registration 263 applications received by the Department of Highway Safety and 264 Motor Vehicles. 265 Section 4.Except as otherwise expressly provided in this 266 act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2022.