Florida 2023 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1249 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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10	10	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
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14	14	A bill to be entitled 1
15	15	An act relating to limited English -proficient voter 2
16	16	assistance; creating s. 97.027, F.S.; providing 3
17	17	definitions; requiring a supervisor of elections or a 4
18	18	political subdivision that administers an election to 5
19	19	provide certain language -related assistance to a 6
20	20	limited English-proficient voter under certain 7
21	21	circumstances; requiring such supervisor of elections 8
22	22	or political subdivision to provide election materia ls 9
23	23	of a certain quality in a covered language; requiring 10
24	24	the manual translation of English language text; 11
25	25	authorizing the use of automatic translation services 12
26	26	under certain circumstances; requiring that election 13
27	27	materials prepared in a covered language mu st be made 14
28	28	available at the same time as comparable English 15
29	29	language election materials; requiring a supervisor of 16
30	30	elections to operate and provide public notice of a 17
31	31	language assistance hotline; providing requirements 18
32	32	for the hotline; requiring a supervis or of elections 19
33	33	to provide certain notices in a covered language under 20
34	34	certain circumstances; requiring a supervisor of 21
35	35	elections or a political subdivision to replicate 22
36	36	certain signs and posters in certain covered languages 23
37	37	and display or distribute such signs and posters in 24
38	38	the same form and manner as English language signs; 25
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47	47	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
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51	51	requiring a governmental entity responsible for 26
52	52	redistricting to provide certain translation services 27
53	53	and translations; providing requirements for such 28
54	54	translation services; authorizi ng a limited English -29
55	55	proficient voter to bring certain actions against a 30
56	56	supervisor of elections or a political subdivision; 31
57	57	requiring a court to grant certain relief upon making 32
58	58	a certain finding; requiring certain translation 33
59	59	services to be in compliance with certain federal 34
60	60	laws; providing an effective date. 35
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62	62	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 37
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64	64	Section 1. Section 97.027, Florida Statutes, is created to 39
65	65	read: 40
66	66	97.027 Limited English -proficient voter assistance. — 41
67	67	(1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 42
68	68	(a) "Covered language" means the language of a member of a 43
69	69	language minority group. 44
70	70	(b) "Election materials" means materials relating to 45
71	71	elections that are intended to be read by a voter and which are 46
72	72	provided by a supervisor of elections or political subdivision, 47
73	73	including, but not limited to, ballots, sample ballots, vote -by-48
74	74	mail ballots, vote-by-mail ballot requests, voting guides, 49
75	75	voting instructions, voter registration applications and 50
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84	84	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
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88	88	materials, polling p lace signage, and notices, electronic 51
89	89	communications, and websites containing election -related 52
90	90	information. 53
91	91	(c) "Language minority group" has the same meaning as in 54
92	92	s. 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, and 55
93	93	includes a group of persons whos e primary language is Haitian -56
94	94	Creole or Brazilian-Portuguese. 57
95	95	(d) "Limited English -proficient voter" means a member of a 58
96	96	language minority group who does not speak or understand English 59
97	97	adequately to participate in the electoral process. A person who 60
98	98	has not completed the fifth grade is presumed to not speak or 61
99	99	understand English adequately to participate in the electoral 62
100	100	process. 63
101	101	(e) "Political subdivision" means a county, municipality, 64
102	102	or special district. 65
103	103	(2) ASSISTANCE FOR LIMITED ENGLISH -PROFICIENT VOTERS.—A 66
104	104	supervisor of elections or political subdivision that 67
105	105	administers an election must provide language -related assistance 68
106	106	in a covered language to a limited English -proficient voter if, 69
107	107	based on data from the American Community Survey or data of 70
108	108	comparable quality collected by a governmental entity: 71
109	109	(a) More than 2 percent of the residents of voting age in 72
110	110	the political subdivision in which the election is held are 73
111	111	members of a single language minority group and limited English -74
112	112	proficient voters, if that percentage equals 300 or more 75
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121	121	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
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125	125	persons; 76
126	126	(b) More than 4,000 of the residents of voting age in the 77
127	127	political subdivision in which the election is held are members 78
128	128	of a single language minority group and limited English -79
129	129	proficient voters; or 80
130	130	(c) For an election held in a political subdivision that 81
131	131	contains any part of a Native American reservation, more than 2 82
132	132	percent of the Native American residents of voting age in the 83
133	133	Native American reservation are members of a single language 84
134	134	minority group and limited English-proficient voters. For 85
135	135	purposes of this paragraph, the term "Native American" means a 86
136	136	person recognized by the United States Census Bureau or the 87
137	137	state as an American Indian. 88
138	138	(3) ELECTION MATERIALS. — 89
139	139	(a) A supervisor of elections or a political subdivision 90
140	140	shall provide to a limited English -proficient voter election 91
141	141	materials in his or her covered language that are the same 92
142	142	quality as comparable English language election materials. 93
143	143	(b) English language text shall be manually translated 94
144	144	whenever possible. Automatic translation services may only be 95
145	145	used when manual translation is not possible. 96
146	146	(c) Election materials prepared in a covered language must 97
147	147	be made available at the same time as comparable English 98
148	148	language election materials. 99
149	149	(4) LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE HOTLINE. —A supervisor of elections 100
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158	158	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
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162	162	shall operate and provide public notice of a language assistance 101
163	163	hotline that provides language assistance to limited English -102
164	164	proficient voters which is staff ed during early voting hours, 103
165	165	all hours during which a polling place is open on election day, 104
166	166	and all hours of the period after election day during which a 105
167	167	voter may cure a vote -by-mail ballot or provisional ballot 106
168	168	deficiency. The hotline must, upon connec ting with a caller, 107
169	169	provide a prompt that allows the caller to meaningfully access 108
170	170	language assistance in the caller's covered language. 109
171	171	(5) NOTICES.— 110
172	172	(a) A supervisor of elections who is required to provide 111
173	173	language-related assistance in a covered lan guage under 112
174	174	subsection (2) must provide, in such covered language, notice 113
175	175	of: 114
176	176	1. Election materials in covered languages for limited 115
177	177	English-proficient voters by prominently displaying signage at 116
178	178	the main office and branch offices of the supervisor, maki ng 117
179	179	printed materials available to voters, and posting information 118
180	180	on the supervisor's public website. 119
181	181	2. The addresses and operating hours of early voting 120
182	182	sites, secure ballot intake station locations, and polling 121
183	183	places by prominently displaying signage at the main office and 122
184	184	branch offices of the supervisor, making printed materials 123
185	185	available to voters, and posting information on the supervisor's 124
186	186	public website. 125
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195	195	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
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199	199	3. Any change in the address or operating hours of an 126
200	200	early voting site, a secure ballot i ntake station location, or a 127
201	201	polling place by the same means as such notice is provided to 128
202	202	voters in English. 129
203	203	(b) An English language sign or poster containing 130
204	204	election-related information which is displayed or distributed 131
205	205	by a supervisor of elections or a political subdivision must be 132
206	206	replicated in each covered language for which the supervisor or 133
207	207	political subdivision is required to provide language -related 134
208	208	assistance under subsection (2). A replicated sign or poster 135
209	209	must be displayed or distributed in the same form and manner as 136
210	210	the English language sign or poster. 137
211	211	(6) TRANSLATIONS RELATING TO REDISTRICTING. —A governmental 138
212	212	entity responsible for a redistricting process must provide 139
213	213	translation services at meetings and hearings related to 140
214	214	redistricting and translations of redistricting materials in 141
215	215	each covered language in which a supervisor of elections or 142
216	216	political subdivision within an affected geographical area is 143
217	217	required to provide election materials. The translation services 144
218	218	provided by the gover nmental entity must be sufficient to allow 145
219	219	a member of a language minority group who speaks such a covered 146
220	220	language to testify at such meeting or hearing. 147
221	221	(7) ACTION FOR DECLARATORY JUDGMENT AND INJUNCTIVE 148
222	222	RELIEF.—A limited English-proficient voter may b ring an action 149
223	223	against a supervisor of elections or a political subdivision in 150
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232	232	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
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236	236	a court of competent jurisdiction for declaratory judgment and 151
237	237	injunctive relief to enforce the requirements of this section. 152
238	238	The court shall grant the requested relief upon fin ding that the 153
239	239	violation of this section was unreasonable or an abuse of 154
240	240	discretion. 155
241	241	(8) COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL LAW. —Translation services 156
242	242	provided under this section must be uniform, nondiscriminatory, 157
243	243	and in compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , the 158
244	244	National Voter Registration Act of 1993, the Help America Vote 159
245	245	Act of 2002, and the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and 160
246	246	Handicapped Act of 1984, as amended. 161
247	247	Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 162