CS/HB 707 2023
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hb0707-01-c1
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to the form of candidate oath; 2
amending s. 99.021, F.S.; revising the address that 3
certain candidates must provide on the form of 4
candidate oath; amending s. 105.031, F.S.; revising 5
the address that judicial candidates must provide on 6
the form of candidate oath; providing an effective 7
date. 8
9
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 10
11
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1 ) of section 12
99.021, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 13
99.021 Form of candidate oath. — 14
(1)(a)1. Each candidate, whether a party candidate, a 15
candidate with no party affiliation, or a write -in candidate, in 16
order to qualify for nomination or electio n to any office other 17
than a judicial office as defined in chapter 105 or a federal 18
office, shall take and subscribe to an oath or affirmation in 19
writing. A copy of the oath or affirmation shall be made 20
available to the candidate by the officer before whom such 21
candidate seeks to qualify and shall be substantially in the 22
following form: 23
State of Florida 24
County of.... 25
CS/HB 707 2023
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Before me, an officer authorized to administer oaths, 26
personally appeared ...(please print name as you wish it to 27
appear on the ballot)..., t o me well known, who, being sworn, 28
says that he or she is a candidate for the office of ....; that 29
he or she is a qualified elector of .... County, Florida; that 30
he or she is qualified under the Constitution and the laws of 31
Florida to hold the office to wh ich he or she desires to be 32
nominated or elected; that he or she has qualified for no other 33
public office in the state, the term of which office or any part 34
thereof runs concurrent with that of the office he or she seeks; 35
that he or she has resigned from a ny office from which he or she 36
is required to resign pursuant to s. 99.012, Florida Statutes; 37
and that he or she will support the Constitution of the United 38
States and the Constitution of the State of Florida. 39
...(Signature of candidate)... 40
...(Address of legal residence)... 41
Sworn to and subscribed before me this .... day of ...., 42
...(year)..., at .... County, Florida. 43
...(Signature and title of officer administering oath)... 44
2. Each candidate for federal office, whether a party 45
candidate, a candidate wit h no party affiliation, or a write -in 46
candidate, in order to qualify for nomination or election to 47
office shall take and subscribe to an oath or affirmation in 48
writing. A copy of the oath or affirmation shall be made 49
available to the candidate by the offic er before whom such 50
CS/HB 707 2023
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
candidate seeks to qualify and shall be substantially in the 51
following form: 52
State of Florida 53
County of .... 54
Before me, an officer authorized to administer oaths, 55
personally appeared ...(please print name as you wish it to 56
appear on the ballot)..., to me well known, who, being sworn, 57
says that he or she is a candidate for the office of ....; that 58
he or she is qualified under the Constitution and laws of the 59
United States to hold the office to which he or she desires to 60
be nominated or elected; that he or she has qualified for no 61
other public office in the state, the term of which office or 62
any part thereof runs concurrent with that of the office he or 63
she seeks; and that he or she will support the Constitution of 64
the United States. 65
...(Signature of candidate)... 66
...(Address)... 67
Sworn to and subscribed before me this .... day of ...., 68
...(year)..., at .... County, Florida. 69
...(Signature and title of officer administering oath)... 70
Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 71
105.031, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 72
105.031 Qualification; filing fee; candidate's oath; items 73
required to be filed. — 74
(4) CANDIDATE'S OATH. — 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(b) All candidates for judicial office shall subscribe to 76
an oath or affirmation in writing to be filed with the 77
appropriate qualifying officer upon qualifying. A printed copy 78
of the oath or affirmation shall be furnished to the candidate 79
by the qualifying officer and shall be in substantially the 80
following form: 81
State of Florida 82
County of .... 83
Before me, an officer authorized to administer oaths, 84
personally appeared ...(please print name as you wish it to 85
appear on the ballot)..., to me well known, who, being sworn, 86
says he or she: is a candidate for the judicial office of ....; 87
that his or her legal residence is .... County, Florida; that he 88
or she is a qualified elector of the state and of the 89
territorial jurisdiction of the court to which he or she seeks 90
election; that he or she is qualified under the constitution and 91
laws of Florida to hold the jud icial office to which he or she 92
desires to be elected or in which he or she desires to be 93
retained; that he or she has qualified for no other public 94
office in the state, the term of which office or any part 95
thereof runs concurrent to the office he or she s eeks; that he 96
or she has resigned from any office which he or she is required 97
to resign pursuant to s. 99.012, Florida Statutes; and that he 98
or she will support the Constitution of the United States and 99
the Constitution of the State of Florida. 100
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
...(Signature of candidate)... 101
...(Address of legal residence)... 102
Sworn to and subscribed before me this .... day of ...., 103
...(year)..., at .... County, Florida. 104
...(Signature and title of officer administering oath)... 105
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 106