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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 elections; providing short titles; 2
amending s. 20.32, F.S.; requiring the Florida 3
Commission on Offender Review to develop and maintain 4
a database containing certain information for a 5
certain purpose; requiring certain governmental 6
entities to provide certain information to the 7
commission; requiring the Department of Management 8
Services, acting through the Florida Digital Service, 9
to provide certain technical assistance to the 10
commission; authorizing the department to adopt rules; 11
requiring the commission to make the database 12
available to the public on an Internet website by a 13
certain date; requiring the commission to update the 14
database monthly and publish certain information on 15
the website; requiring the commission to provide a 16
comprehensive plan to the Governor and Legislature by 17
a certain date; providing requirements for such plan; 18
prohibiting certain persons from being charged with 19
certain violations; requiring the commission to adopt 20
rules; amending s. 97.021, F.S.; providing 21
definitions; repealing s. 97.022, F.S., relating to 22
the Office of Election Crimes and Security; repealing 23
s. 97.0291, F.S., relating to a prohibition on the use 24
of private funds for election -related expenses; 25
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creating s. 97.0293, F.S.; prohibiting certain 26
governmental entities from taking certain actions 27
relating to elections; providing a rebuttable 28
presumption; prohibiting a local government from 29
employing certain election methods; requiring courts 30
to adhere to certain guidelines when making certain 31
determinations; providing factors that courts may 32
consider when making certain determinations; 33
prohibiting courts from considering certain factors 34
when making certain determinations; requiring a 35
plaintiff to send a certain notification letter to a 36
local government in ce rtain circumstances; providing 37
requirements for such letter; authorizing a local 38
government to adopt a certain resolution in certain 39
circumstances; providing requirements for such 40
resolution; prohibiting a local government from 41
asserting the doctrine of la ches as a defense to 42
certain claims; authorizing certain persons to file 43
certain actions; creating s. 97.02935, F.S.; providing 44
a definition; requiring the Florida Voting Rights Acts 45
Commission to designate certain languages for which 46
assistance in voting and elections must be provided in 47
certain circumstances; requiring the commission to 48
find that a significant and substantial need exists in 49
certain circumstances; requiring the commission to 50
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annually publish a certain list on its website; 51
requiring a local government to provide certain 52
assistance in voting and elections; providing 53
requirements for such assistance; requiring the 54
commission to adopt certain rules; authorizing certain 55
persons to file certain claims; creating s. 97.0294, 56
F.S.; requiring the com mission to enter into an 57
agreement with one or more universities to create the 58
Florida Voting and Elections Database and Institute; 59
providing requirements for the database and institute; 60
authorizing the database and institute to take certain 61
actions; requiring the database and institute to 62
maintain certain data and records in an electronic 63
format and make such data and records available to the 64
public; requiring state agencies and local governments 65
to timely provide the director of the database and 66
institute with certain information; requiring each 67
local government to transmit to the database and 68
institute copies of certain information within a 69
certain period; authorizing certain persons to file 70
certain actions; requiring the database and institute 71
to publish a certain report annually within a certain 72
period; providing a rebuttable presumption; creating 73
s. 97.0295, F.S.; establishing the Florida Voting 74
Rights Act Commission; providing that the commission 75
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is not a unit of any other state agency; providing for 76
selection, compensation, terms, and qualifications of 77
commissioners; providing powers of the commission; 78
authorizing the commission to hire staff, make 79
expenditures, and adopt rules; creating s. 97.0296, 80
F.S.; providing that the enactment or implementation 81
of certain policies by a covered jurisdiction is 82
subject to preclearance by the commission; requiring 83
the commission to annually make and publish a certain 84
determination online; requiring a covered jurisdiction 85
to seek preclearance from the commission in a certain 86
manner; authorizing the commission to deny 87
preclearance in certain circumstances; providing 88
requirements for review of certain covered policies; 89
authorizing certain persons to file certain actions; 90
requiring the commission to adopt certain rules; 91
creating s. 97.0297, F.S.; providing construction; 92
prohibiting the assertion of certain immunities and 93
privileges in certain circumstances; creating s. 94
97.0298, F.S.; authorizing a court to order certain 95
appropriate remedies; authorizing a court to conside r 96
certain remedies; requiring a court to grant a 97
temporary injunction or certain other relief in 98
certain circumstances; requiring a court to award 99
certain fees and costs to a prevailing party in 100
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certain circumstances; creating s. 97.0299, F.S.; 101
establishing a voter education fund to be administered 102
by the commission; authorizing the commission to 103
expend moneys from the fund for certain purposes; 104
creating s. 97.0556, F.S.; authorizing certain persons 105
to register to vote and immediately thereafter cast a 106
vote in certain circumstances; amending s. 97.057, 107
F.S.; authorizing the Department of Highway Safety and 108
Motor Vehicles to preregister certain individuals to 109
vote; providing that driver license or identification 110
card applications, driver license or identifica tion 111
card renewal applications, and applications for a 112
change of address for existing driver licenses or 113
identification cards submitted to the department serve 114
as voter registration applications; providing that an 115
applicant is deemed to have consented to t he use of 116
his or her signature for voter registration purposes; 117
providing an exception; requiring specified 118
applications to include a voter registration 119
component, subject to approval by the Department of 120
State; specifying requirements for such component; 121
requiring the Department of Highway Safety and Motor 122
Vehicles to electronically transmit voter registration 123
information to the Department of State within a 124
certain period; requiring the Department of State to 125
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provide such information to supervisors of elec tions; 126
deleting obsolete language; making technical changes; 127
amending s. 97.0575, F.S.; revising information that a 128
third-party voter registration organization must 129
provide to the Division of Elections; removing a 130
provision that provides for the automatic expiration 131
of the registration of such organization; removing a 132
provision that requires such organization to provide a 133
certain receipt to an applicant; removing a provision 134
that requires such organization to deliver a voter 135
registration application to a ce rtain supervisor of 136
elections; revising the period within which such 137
organization must deliver such applications to the 138
division or a supervisor of elections; revising the 139
amounts of certain fines; removing a provision that 140
subjects such organization to ce rtain fines for 141
certain acts committed by a person collecting 142
applications on behalf of such organization; removing 143
a provision that requires the division to adopt by 144
rule a certain form and certain rules; removing a 145
provision that prohibits such organizat ion from 146
prefilling certain information on an application and 147
that provides for certain fines; removing a provision 148
relating to retroactive application of certain 149
requirements; amending s. 98.045, F.S.; conforming a 150
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cross-reference; creating s. 100.51, F.S .; 151
establishing General Election Day as a paid holiday; 152
authorizing an elector to absent himself or herself 153
from service or employment during a certain period on 154
such day; prohibiting such elector from being 155
penalized or having his or her salary or wages r educed 156
for such absence; creating s. 101.016, F.S.; requiring 157
the Division of Elections to maintain a strategic 158
elections equipment reserve of voting systems for 159
specified purposes; requiring such reserve to include 160
specified equipment; authorizing the div ision to 161
contract with specified entities rather than 162
maintaining a physical reserve of such equipment; 163
repealing s. 101.019, F.S., relating to a prohibition 164
on ranked-choice voting; amending s. 101.048, F.S.; 165
authorizing a voter to cast a provisional vote at any 166
precinct in the county in which the voter claims to be 167
registered; amending s. 101.62, F.S.; providing that a 168
request for a vote-by-mail ballot is valid until such 169
request is canceled; revising the deadline by which 170
requests for vote-by-mail ballots must be received by 171
a supervisor of elections; removing provisions 172
providing requirements for a person designated by an 173
elector to pick up the elector's vote -by-mail ballot; 174
requiring the extension of deadlines in certain 175
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circumstances; amending s. 101.6 4, F.S.; requiring 176
supervisors of elections to enclose a postage prepaid 177
mailing envelope with each vote -by-mail ballot; 178
authorizing vote-by-mail ballot voter's certificates 179
to be signed with the last four digits of the voter's 180
social security number; amen ding s. 101.69, F.S.; 181
removing a provision that limits the use of a secure 182
ballot intake station to certain hours and that 183
requires certain monitoring; removing a provision that 184
subjects a supervisor of elections to a civil penalty 185
in certain circumstances ; amending s. 104.0515, F.S.; 186
prohibiting a person from deceiving, or attempting to 187
deceive, another person for certain purposes; 188
specifying certain acts that violate a certain 189
prohibition; authorizing certain persons to file 190
certain civil actions; requiri ng a court to impose 191
certain remedies; amending s. 104.42, F.S.; conforming 192
a provision to changes made by the act; providing an 193
effective date. 194
195
WHEREAS, electoral systems that deny race, color, or 196
language minority groups an equal opportunity to ele ct 197
candidates of their choice and influence the outcome of an 198
election are inconsistent with the right to equal treatment 199
before the law as provided in s. 2, Art. I of the State 200
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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
Constitution as well as protections found in the Fourteenth and 201
Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and 202
WHEREAS, following United States Supreme Court decisions in 203
Shelby County v. Holder and Brnovich v. Democratic National 204
Committee, the landmark federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 has 205
been severely diminished in its ability to protect the freedom 206
of black and brown voters to fully participate in the political 207
processes of our democratic republic, and 208
WHEREAS, Harry T. Moore and Harriette V. Moore were the 209
first true civil rights activists of the modern civil rig hts era 210
in the State of Florida, and were instrumental in registering 211
more than 100,000 black voters in the state, and 212
WHEREAS, Harry T. Moore and Harriette V. Moore paid the 213
ultimate price for the freedoms fought for their community when 214
their home in Mims was bombed by members of the Ku Klux Klan on 215
the night of Christmas, December 25, 1951, and 216
WHEREAS, By the time of their death, Florida had the 217
highest number of registered black voters, far more than any 218
other state in the South, and 219
WHEREAS, this bill expands on voting rights granted under 220
the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, reaffirms the well -221
established principle of "one person, one vote," and builds on 222
the historical work of the named and nameless Floridians who 223
fought for their right to the e lective franchise, and 224
WHEREAS, given their history and the intended impact of 225
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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
this act on voting rights in this state, it is appropriate to 226
name this act after Harry T. Moore and Harriette V. Moore, NOW, 227
THEREFORE, 228
229
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 230
231
Section 1. Sections 4, 7 through 14, and 26 of this act 232
may be cited as the "Florida Voting Rights Act" or the "FLVRA." 233
Sections 2, 3, 5, 6, and 15 through 25 of this act may be cited 234
as the "Expanding Voter Access Act" or the "E VAA." This act as a 235
whole may be cited as the "Harry T. Moore and Harriette V. Moore 236
Florida Voting Rights Act." 237
Section 2. Subsection (4) is added to section 20.32, 238
Florida Statutes, to read: 239
20.32 Florida Commission on Offender Review. — 240
(4)(a) For the purpose of assisting a person who has been 241
disqualified from voting based on a felony conviction other than 242
murder or a felony sexual offense in determining whether he or 243
she has met the requirements under s. 98.0751 and had his or her 244
voting rights restored pursuant to s. 4, Art. VI of the State 245
Constitution, the commission shall develop and maintain a 246
database that contains for each such person all of the 247
following: 248
1. His or her name and any other personal identifying 249
information. 250
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2. The remaining length of any term of supervision, 251
including, but not limited to, probation, community control, or 252
parole, ordered by a court as a part of his or her sentence. 253
3. The remaining amount of any restitution owed to a 254
victim as ordered by a court as a part of his or her sentence. 255
4. The remaining amount due of any fines or fees that were 256
initially ordered by a court as a part of his or her sentence or 257
as a condition of any form of supervision, including, but not 258
limited to, probation, community con trol, or parole. 259
5. The completion status of any other term ordered by a 260
court as a part of his or her sentence. 261
6. Any other information needed to determine whether he or 262
she has met the requirements for restoration of voting rights 263
under s. 98.0751. 264
(b) The Department of State, the Department of 265
Corrections, clerks of the circuit courts, county comptrollers, 266
and the Board of Executive Clemency shall monthly provide to the 267
commission any information held by such governmental entity 268
which is required under paragraph (a). 269
(c) The Department of Management Services, acting through 270
the Florida Digital Service, shall provide any technical 271
assistance necessary for the commission to develop and maintain 272
the database. The Department of Management Services ma y adopt 273
rules to provide such assistance. 274
(d) By July 1, 2027, the commission shall make the 275
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database available to the public on an Internet website. The 276
commission must update the database monthly with the information 277
received from each governmental ent ity under paragraph (b). The 278
commission shall publish on the website clear instructions that 279
a person who has been disqualified from voting based on a felony 280
conviction other than murder or a felony sexual offense may 281
follow to have his or her voting right s restored and to register 282
to vote. 283
(e) By July 1, 2025, the commission shall provide a 284
comprehensive plan to the Governor, the President of the Senate, 285
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives which includes 286
all of the following: 287
1. The governmental entities from which and the methods by 288
which the commission shall collect, centralize, analyze, and 289
secure the information required to be included in the database. 290
2. A description of any infrastructure and services, 291
including, but not limited to, software, hardware, and 292
information technology services, that may be necessary to create 293
and maintain the database. 294
3. The anticipated number of additional employees 295
necessary for: 296
a. The commission to develop and maintain the database. 297
b. A governmental entity to provide the information 298
required under paragraph (b). 299
c. The Florida Digital Service to provide the assistance 300
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required under paragraph (c). 301
4. The anticipated cost to initially develop the database; 302
annual cost to maintain the database; and annual appropriation 303
required to fund the anticipated costs of the commission, each 304
governmental entity, and the Florida Digital Service. 305
5. Any legal authority necessary for the commission to 306
develop and maintain the database. 307
6. Draft legislatio n to implement the comprehensive plan. 308
(f) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a person who 309
registers to vote or who votes in reasonable reliance on 310
information contained in the database indicating that his or her 311
voting rights have been restored pu rsuant to s. 4, Art. VI of 312
the State Constitution has an affirmative right to register to 313
vote and to vote and may not be charged with a violation of any 314
criminal law of this state related to fraudulently voting or 315
registering to vote. 316
(g) The commission shall adopt rules to implement this 317
subsection. 318
Section 3. Subsections (5) through (8), (9) through (17), 319
(18), (19) through (31), (32) through (35), and (36) through 320
(47) of section 97.021, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as 321
subsections (7) through (10), (12) through (20), (23), (25) 322
through (37), (39) through (42), and (44) through (55), 323
respectively, and new subsections (5), (6), (11), (21), (22), 324
(24), (38), and (43) are added to that section to read: 325
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97.021 Definitions. —For the purposes of this code, except 326
where the context clearly indicates otherwise, the term: 327
(5) "Alternative method of election" means a method of 328
electing candidates to the legislative body of a local 329
government other than an at -large method of election or a 330
district-based method of election, and includes, but is not 331
limited to, ranked-choice voting, cumulative voting, and limited 332
voting. 333
(6) "At-large method of election" means any of the 334
following methods of electing members to the governing body of a 335
political subdivisio n, but does not include any alternative 336
method of election in which: 337
(a) The voters of the entire jurisdiction elect the 338
members to the governing body. 339
(b) The candidates are required to reside within given 340
areas of the jurisdiction and the voters of t he entire 341
jurisdiction elect the members to the governing body. 342
(c) At-large elections are combined with district -based 343
elections. 344
(11) "District-based method of election" means a method of 345
electing candidates to the legislative body of a local 346
government in which, for counties or municipalities divided into 347
districts, a candidate for any such district is required to 348
reside in the district and candidates representing or seeking to 349
represent the district are voted upon by only the voters of the 350
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district. 351
(21) "Government enforcement action" means any denial of 352
administrative or judicial preclearance by the state or federal 353
government, pending litigation filed by a state or federal 354
entity, final judgment or adjudication, consent decree, or other 355
similar formal action. 356
(22) "Legislative body" means the commission, council, 357
school board, or other similar body, by whatever name known, of 358
local government. 359
(24) "Local government" means an entity that administers 360
elections or in which elections are conduct ed and includes a 361
county, municipality, school district, special district, or 362
supervisor of elections. 363
(38) "Protected class" means a class of citizens who are 364
members of a race, color, or language minority group, as 365
referenced in the federal Voting Righ ts Act of 1965. 366
(43) "Racially polarized voting" means voting in which the 367
candidate or electoral choice preferred by protected class 368
members diverges from the candidate or electoral choice 369
preferred by voters who are not protected class members. 370
Section 4. Section 97.022, Florida Statutes, is repealed. 371
Section 5. Section 97.0291, Florida Statutes, is repealed. 372
Section 6. Section 97.0293, Florida Statutes, is created 373
to read: 374
97.0293 Prohibition on voter suppression and vote 375
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dilution.— 376
(1) A local government, state agency, or state official 377
may not implement a regulation, standard, practice, procedure, 378
or policy regarding the administration of elections, or take or 379
fail to take any action, that results or is intended to result 380
in: 381
(a) A disparity among protected class members in electoral 382
participation, access to voting opportunities, or ability to 383
participate in the political process; or 384
(b) Based on the totality of the circumstances, an 385
impairment of the opportunity or ability of a loc al government's 386
protected class members to participate in the political process 387
and elect candidates of their choice or otherwise influence the 388
outcome of elections. 389
(2) There is a rebuttable presumption that paragraph 390
(1)(b) is violated in circumstances that include, but are not 391
limited to, any of the following: 392
(a) A local government closes, moves, consolidates, or 393
fails to provide polling places, early voting sites, or secure 394
ballot intake stations, or reassigns voters to precincts or 395
precincts to polling places, in a manner that impairs the right 396
to vote of members of a protected class or results in a 397
disparity in geographic access between members of a protected 398
class and other members of the electorate. 399
(b) A local government selects or changes da tes or hours 400
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of an election or for early voting in a manner that impairs the 401
right to vote of members of a protected class, including, but 402
not limited to, making the change without proper notice as 403
required by law. 404
(c) A local government fails to provide voting or election 405
materials in languages other than English as required by law. 406
(d) A local government conducts general or primary 407
elections on dates that do not align with the dates of federal 408
or state general or primary elections, resulting in a disp arity 409
in levels of participation between protected class voters and 410
other voters that exceeds any disparity in federal or state 411
general or primary elections. 412
(e) A special election to fill a vacancy is called on a 413
date that would reasonably result in a d isparity in levels of 414
participation between protected class voters and other voters, 415
and there exists an alternate date in a reasonable timeframe in 416
which the disparity would be materially less significant. 417
(f) A special election to fill a vacancy is not scheduled 418
within a reasonable timeframe for an office in which protected 419
class voters would be able to elect candidates of their choice 420
or otherwise influence the outcome of elections, thus denying 421
representation to protected class voters. 422
(3) A local government may not employ a method of election 423
for any office that has the effect, or is motivated in part by 424
the intent, of impairing the opportunity or ability of protected 425
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class members to participate in the political process and elect 426
candidates of their choice or otherwise influence the outcome of 427
elections as a result of diluting the vote of such protected 428
class members. This subsection is violated in any of the 429
following circumstances: 430
(a) A local government employs an at -large method of 431
election and: 432
1. Elections in the local government exhibit racially 433
polarized voting resulting in an impairment of the equal 434
opportunity or ability of protected class members to nominate or 435
elect candidates of their choice; or, based on the totality of 436
the circumstances, the equal opportunity or ability of members 437
of a protected class to nominate or elect candidates of their 438
choice is impaired; and 439
2. One or more new methods of election or modifications to 440
the existing method of election exist that the court could order 441
pursuant to s. 97.0298 that would likely mitigate the impairment 442
of the equal opportunity or ability of protected class members 443
to nominate or elect candidates of their choice. To the extent 444
that the new method of election or modification is a propo sed 445
district-based plan that provides members of a protected class 446
with one or more reasonably configured districts in which they 447
would have an equal opportunity or ability to nominate or elect 448
candidates of their choice, it is not necessary to show that 449
members of a protected class comprise a majority in any such 450
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district or districts. 451
(b) A local government employs a district -based or 452
alternative method of election and: 453
1. Elections in the local government exhibit racially 454
polarized voting resulting i n an impairment of the equal 455
opportunity or ability of protected class members to nominate or 456
elect candidates of their choice; or, based on the totality of 457
the circumstances, the equal opportunity or ability of members 458
of a protected class to nominate or elect candidates of their 459
choice is impaired; and 460
2. One or more new methods of election or modifications to 461
the existing method of election exist that the court could order 462
pursuant to s. 97.0298 that would likely mitigate the impairment 463
of the equal opportunity or ability of protected class members 464
to nominate or elect candidates of their choice. To the extent 465
that the new method of election or modification is a proposed 466
district-based plan that provides members of a protected class 467
with one or more rea sonably configured districts in which they 468
would have an equal opportunity or ability to nominate or elect 469
candidates of their choice, it is not necessary to show that 470
members of a protected class comprise a majority in any such 471
district or districts. 472
(4) For the purpose of determining whether racially 473
polarized voting by protected class members in a local 474
government occurs under this section, courts shall adhere to all 475
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of the following guidelines: 476
(a) Elections conducted before the filing of a cause of 477
action are more probative than elections conducted after the 478
filing of a cause of action. 479
(b) Evidence concerning an election for any office in that 480
local government, including executive, legislative, judicial, 481
and other offices of that local government , is more probative 482
than evidence concerning an election for any other office, but 483
evidence concerning an election for another office may still be 484
afforded probative value. 485
(c) Statistical evidence is more probative than non -486
statistical evidence. 487
(d) In the case of claims brought on behalf of two or more 488
protected classes that are politically cohesive in that local 489
government, members of those protected classes must be combined 490
to determine whether voting by those combined protected class 491
members is polarized from other electors. It is not necessary to 492
demonstrate that voting by members of each protected class is 493
separately polarized from other electors. 494
(e) Evidence concerning the causes of, or the reasons for, 495
the occurrence of racially polarized vo ting is not relevant to 496
the determination of whether racially polarized voting by 497
protected class members occurs, or whether candidates or 498
electoral choices preferred by protected class members would 499
usually be defeated. In particular, evidence concerning 500
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alternate explanations for racially polarized voting patterns or 501
election outcomes, including, but not limited to, partisan 502
explanations, may not be considered. 503
(f) Evidence concerning whether subgroups of protected 504
class members have different voting pa tterns may not be 505
considered. 506
(g) Evidence concerning whether protected class electors 507
are geographically compact or concentrated may not be 508
considered, but may be considered when determining a remedy for 509
a violation of this section. 510
(5) For the purpose of determining whether, based on the 511
totality of the circumstances, an impairment of the right to 512
vote for any protected class member, or of the opportunity or 513
ability of protected class members to participate in the 514
political process and elect candidate s of their choice or 515
otherwise influence the outcome of elections, has occurred, 516
courts may consider factors including, but not limited to, those 517
designated in this subsection. A particular combination or 518
number of these factors is not required for a court to determine 519
that an impairment occurred. The court shall consider a 520
particular factor only if and to the extent that evidence 521
pertaining to that factor is introduced. Evidence of these 522
factors is most probative if the evidence relates to the local 523
government in which the alleged violation occurred, but still 524
holds probative value if the evidence relates to the geographic 525
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region in which that local government is located or to this 526
state. The factors that a court may consider include, but are 527
not limited to, the following: 528
(a) The history of discrimination. 529
(b) The extent to which protected class members have been 530
elected to office. 531
(c) Any action by the local government that may enhance 532
the dilutive effects of a method of election in the local 533
government. Such actions may include the use of any 534
qualification for voter eligibility or other prerequisite to 535
voting; any statute, ordinance, regulation, or other law 536
regarding the administration of elections; or any standard, 537
practice, procedure, or policy. 538
(d) The extent of any history of unequal access on the 539
part of protected class members or candidates to election 540
administration or campaign finance processes that determine 541
which candidates will receive access to the ballot or financial 542
or other support in a given election for an office of the local 543
government. 544
(e) The extent to which protected class members in the 545
local government or state have historically made expenditures as 546
defined in s. 106.011 at lower rates than other individuals. 547
(f) The extent to which protected class members vote at 548
lower rates than other voters. 549
(g) The extent to which protected class members are 550
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disadvantaged or otherwise bear the effects of public or private 551
discrimination in areas that may hinder their ability to 552
participate effectively in the political process, such as 553
education, employment, health, criminal justice, housing, 554
transportation, land use, or environmental protection. 555
(h) The extent to which protected class members are 556
disadvantaged in other areas that may hinder their ability to 557
participate effectively in the political process. 558
(i) The use of overt or subtle racial appeals in political 559
campaigns, by government officials, or surrounding the adoption 560
or maintenance of a challenged practice. 561
(j) The extent to which candidates face hostility or 562
barriers while campaigning due to their membership in a 563
protected class. 564
(k) The lack of responsiveness by elected officials to the 565
particular needs of protected class members or a community of 566
protected class memb ers. 567
(l) Whether the particular method of election, ordinance, 568
regulation, or other law regarding the administration of 569
elections, standard, practice, procedure, or policy was designed 570
to advance, and materially advances, a valid and substantiated 571
state interest. 572
(6) In determining whether a violation of this section has 573
occurred, a court may not consider any of the following factors: 574
(a) The total number or share of members of a protected 575
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class on whom a challenged method of election, ordinance, 576
resolution, rule, policy, standard, regulation, procedure, or 577
law does not impose a material burden. 578
(b) The degree to which the challenged method of election, 579
ordinance, resolution, rule, policy, standard, regulation, 580
procedure, or law has a long pedigree o r was in widespread use 581
at some earlier date. 582
(c) The use of an identical or similar challenged method 583
of election, ordinance, resolution, rule, policy, standard, 584
regulation, procedure, or law in another local government. 585
(d) The availability of other forms of voting unimpacted 586
by the challenged method of election, ordinance, resolution, 587
rule, policy, standard, regulation, procedure, or law to all 588
members of the electorate, including members of the protected 589
class. 590
(e) A prophylactic impact on potential criminal activity 591
by individual electors, if those crimes have not occurred in the 592
local government in substantial numbers, or if the connection 593
between the challenged policy and any claimed prophylactic 594
effect is not supported by substantial evi dence. 595
(f) Mere invocation of interests in voter confidence or 596
prevention of fraud. 597
(g) A lack of evidence concerning the intent of electors, 598
elected officials, or public officials to discriminate against 599
protected class members. 600
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(h) The fact that th e challenged method of election, 601
ordinance, resolution, rule, policy, standard, regulation, 602
procedure, or law is authorized or mandated by any provision of 603
general law or any special act, charter or home rule ordinance, 604
or other enactment of the state or a ny local government. 605
(7) Before filing an action against a local government 606
pursuant to this section, a prospective plaintiff must send by 607
certified mail, return receipt requested, a Florida Voting 608
Rights Act notification letter, hereinafter referred to as an 609
"FLVRA notification letter," to the local government asserting 610
that the local government may be in violation of this act. 611
(a) Except as noted in paragraph (e), a party may not file 612
an action against a local government earlier than 50 days after 613
sending an FLVRA notification letter to the local government. 614
(b) Before receiving an FLVRA notification letter, or not 615
later than 50 days after any FLVRA notification letter is sent 616
to a local government, a local government may adopt a Florida 617
Voting Rights Act resolution, hereinafter referred to as an 618
"FLVRA resolution," that does all of the following: 619
1. Identifies a potential violation of this section by the 620
local government. 621
2. Identifies a specific remedy to the potential 622
violation. 623
3. Affirms the local government's intention to enact and 624
implement a remedy for a potential violation. 625
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4. Sets forth specific measures the local government will 626
take to facilitate enactment and implementation of the remedy. 627
5. Provides a schedule for the enact ment and 628
implementation of the remedy. 629
(c) Except as provided in paragraph (e), a party that has 630
sent an FLVRA notification letter may not file an action 631
pursuant to this section earlier than 90 days after the adoption 632
of an FLVRA notification letter. 633
(d) If the remedy identified in an FLVRA resolution is 634
barred by state or local law, or a legislative body of a local 635
government lacks authority under state or local law to enact or 636
implement a remedy identified in an FLVRA resolution within 90 637
days after the adoption of the FLVRA resolution, or if the local 638
government is a covered jurisdiction under s. 97.0296(3), the 639
local government may nonetheless enact and implement the remedy 640
identified in an FLVRA resolution upon approval of the FLVRA 641
Commission, which may only provide approval if the commission 642
finds that the local government may be in violation of this act, 643
the proposed remedy would address a potential violation, and 644
implementation of the proposed remedy is feasible. The approval 645
of a remedy by the FLVRA Commission does not bar an action to 646
challenge the remedy. 647
(e) If, pursuant to this subsection, a local government 648
enacts or implements a remedy or the FLVRA Commission approves a 649
proposed remedy, a party who sent a FLVRA notification letter 650
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may submit a claim for reimbursement from the local government 651
for the costs associated with producing and sending the FLVRA 652
notification letter. The party shall submit the claim in writing 653
and substantiate the claim with financial documentation, 654
including a detailed invoice for any demography services or 655
analysis of voting patterns in the local government. If a party 656
and local government fail to agree to a reimbursement amount, 657
either the party or local government may file an action for a 658
declaratory judgment fo r a clarification of rights. 659
(f) Notwithstanding this subsection, a party may bring a 660
cause of action for a violation of this section under any of the 661
following circumstances: 662
1. The action is commenced within 1 year after the 663
adoption of the challenge d method of election, ordinance, 664
resolution, rule, policy, standard, regulation, procedure, or 665
law. 666
2. The prospect of obtaining relief under this section 667
would be futile. 668
3. Another party has already submitted an FLVRA 669
notification letter under this s ubsection alleging a 670
substantially similar violation and that party is eligible to 671
bring a cause of action under this subsection. 672
4. Following the party's submission of an FLVRA 673
notification letter, the local government has adopted an FLVRA 674
resolution that identifies a remedy that does not remedy the 675
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violation identified in the party's FLVRA notification letter. 676
5. The party is seeking preliminary relief with respect to 677
an upcoming election in accordance with s. 97.0298. 678
(8) A local government may not assert the doctrine of 679
laches as a defense to a claim brought under this section. A 680
local government may not assert that a plaintiff has failed to 681
comply with any notice, exhaustion, or other procedural 682
requirements under general law other than the requir ements in 683
this section as a defense to a claim brought under this section. 684
(9) Any individual aggrieved by a violation of this 685
section, any entity whose membership includes individuals 686
aggrieved by a violation of this section, any entity whose 687
mission would be frustrated by a violation of this section, any 688
entity that would expend resources in order to fulfill its 689
mission as a result of a violation of this section, the Attorney 690
General, or the FLVRA Commission may file an action alleging a 691
violation of this section to enforce compliance with this 692
section. Such a claim may be filed pursuant to the Florida Rules 693
of Civil Procedure or in the Second Judicial Circuit. Members of 694
two or more protected classes that are politically cohesive in a 695
local government may jointly file an action. 696
Section 7. Section 97.02935, Florida Statutes, is created 697
to read: 698
97.02935 Language access. — 699
(1) As used in this section, the term "limited English 700
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proficient individual" means an individual who does not speak 701
English as his or her primary language and who speaks, reads, or 702
understands the English language less than "very well" in 703
accordance with United States Census Bureau data or data of 704
comparable quality collected by a governmental entity. 705
(2) The FLVRA Commission m ust designate one or more 706
languages other than English for which assistance in voting and 707
elections must be provided in a local government if the FLVRA 708
Commission finds that a significant and substantial need for 709
assistance exists. 710
(3) The FLVRA Commissi on shall find that a significant and 711
substantial need exists if, based on the best available data, 712
which may include information from the United States Census 713
Bureau's American Community Survey or data of comparable quality 714
collected by a governmental enti ty: 715
(a) More than 2 percent, but not fewer than 200, of the 716
citizens of voting age of a local government speak a language 717
other than English and are limited English proficient 718
individuals. 719
(b) More than 4,000 of the citizens of voting age of the 720
local government speak a language other than English and are 721
limited English proficient individuals. 722
(c) In the case of a local government that contains any 723
part of a Native American reservation, more than 2 percent of 724
the Native American citizens of voting ag e within the Native 725
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American reservation are proficient in a language other than 726
English and are limited English proficient individuals. As used 727
in this subsection, the term "Native American" includes any 728
person recognized by the United States Census Burea u or the 729
state as "American Indian." 730
(4) The FLVRA Commission must annually publish on its 731
website a list of each local government in which assistance in 732
voting and elections in a language other than English must be 733
provided, and each designated language in which such assistance 734
must be provided in each local government. The FLVRA 735
Commission's determinations under this section are effective 736
upon publication. The FLVRA Commission must distribute this 737
information to each affected local government. 738
(5) A local government must provide assistance in voting 739
and elections, including related materials, in any language 740
designated by the FLVRA Commission under subsection (4) to 741
voters in the local government who are limited English 742
proficient individuals. 743
(6) Whenever the FLVRA Commission determines, pursuant to 744
this section, that language assistance must be provided in a 745
local government, the local government must provide competent 746
assistance in each designated language and provide related 747
materials in English, and in each designated language, including 748
voter registration or voting notices, forms, instructions, 749
assistance, ballots, or other materials or information relating 750
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to the electoral process, except in the case of a language that 751
is oral or unwritten, incl uding historically unwritten as may be 752
the case for some Native Americans, a local government may 753
provide only oral instructions, assistance, or other information 754
relating to the electoral process in such language. All 755
materials provided in a designated la nguage must be of an equal 756
quality to the corresponding English materials. All provided 757
translations must convey the intent and essential meaning of the 758
original text or communication and may not rely solely on an 759
automatic translation service. Whenever av ailable, language 760
assistance must also include live translation. 761
(7) The FLVRA Commission must adopt rules to establish a 762
review process under which the FLVRA Commission will determine 763
whether a significant and substantial need exists in a local 764
government for a language to be designated for the provision of 765
assistance in voting and elections. This process must include, 766
at a minimum, all of the following: 767
(a) An opportunity to request that the FLVRA Commission 768
consider designating a language in a local government which must 769
be made available to any voter, organization whose membership 770
includes or is likely to include voters, organization whose 771
mission would be frustrated by a local government's failure to 772
provide language assistance, or organization that would expend 773
resources in order to fulfill the organization's mission as a 774
result of such a failure. 775
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(b) An opportunity for public comment. 776
(c) That upon receipt of any such request and 777
consideration of any public comment, the FLVRA Commission may, 778
in accordance with the process for making this determination, 779
designate any language in a local government. 780
(8) Any individual aggrieved by a violation of this 781
section, any entity whose membership includes individuals 782
aggrieved by a violation of this secti on, any entity whose 783
mission would be frustrated by a violation of this section, any 784
entity that would expend resources in order to fulfill its 785
mission as a result of a violation of this section, the Attorney 786
General, or the FLVRA Commission may file an ac tion alleging a 787
violation of this section. Such a claim may be filed pursuant to 788
the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure or in the Second Judicial 789
Circuit. 790
Section 8. Section 97.0294, Florida Statutes, is created 791
to read: 792
97.0294 Florida Voting and Elec tions Database and 793
Institute.— 794
(1) The FLVRA Commission shall enter into an agreement 795
with one or more universities to create the Florida Voting and 796
Elections Database and Institute, hereinafter referred to as the 797
"database and institute," to maintain an d administer a central 798
repository of elections and voting data available to the public 799
from all local governments in this state and to foster, pursue, 800
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and sponsor research on existing laws and best practices in 801
voting and elections. The parties to the agre ement shall enter 802
into a memorandum of understanding that includes the process for 803
selecting the director of the database and institute. 804
(2) The database and institute shall provide a center for 805
research, training, and information on voting systems and 806
election administration. The database and institute may do any 807
of the following: 808
(a) Conduct classes both for credit and noncredit. 809
(b) Organize interdisciplinary groups of scholars to 810
research voting and elections. 811
(c) Conduct seminars relating to vo ting and elections. 812
(d) Establish a nonpartisan centralized database in order 813
to collect, archive, and make publicly available at no cost an 814
accessible database pertaining to elections, voter registration, 815
and ballot access. 816
(e) Assist in the dissemination of election data to the 817
public. 818
(f) Publish books and periodicals as the database and 819
institute considers appropriate on voting and elections. 820
(g) Provide nonpartisan technical assistance to local 821
governments, scholars, and the general pu blic seeking to use the 822
resources of the database and institute. 823
(3) The database and institute shall maintain in an 824
electronic format all relevant election and voting data and 825
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records for at least the previous 12 -year period. The data and 826
records maintained by the database and institute must be posted 827
online and made available to the public at no cost. The data and 828
records that must be maintained include, but are not limited to, 829
all of the following: 830
(a) Estimates of the total population, voting age 831
population, and citizen voting age population by racial, color, 832
or language minority group and disability status, aggregated by 833
precinct level, on an annual basis, for every local government 834
in this state, based on data from the United States Census 835
Bureau's American Community Survey or data of comparable quality 836
collected by a public office. The estimates shall be prepared by 837
applying the most advanced, peer -reviewed, and validated 838
methodologies available. 839
(b) Election results, aggregated by precinct level , for 840
every federal, state, and local election held in every local 841
government in this state. 842
(c) Contemporaneous voter registration lists, voter 843
history files, election day polling places, and absentee voter 844
ballot drop box locations for every election i n every local 845
government in this state. Absentee voter ballot drop box 846
locations must be made available in a geospatial file format. 847
(d) Contemporaneous maps or other documentation of the 848
configuration of precincts, which must be made available in a 849
geospatial file format. 850
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(e) Election day polling places, including, but not 851
limited to, lists of precincts assigned to each polling place, 852
if applicable. Election day polling places must be made 853
available in a geospatial file format. 854
(f) Adopted districtin g or redistricting plans for every 855
election in every local government in this state. 856
(g) A current record, updated to the current month, of 857
persons eligible to register to vote with prior criminal 858
convictions whose eligibility has been restored in compli ance 859
with s. 98.0751. 860
(h) Any other data that the director of the database and 861
institute considers necessary to maintain in furtherance of the 862
purposes of the database and institute. 863
(4) All state agencies and local governments shall timely 864
provide the director of the database and institute with any 865
information he or she requests. Within 90 days after an 866
election, each local government shall transmit to the database 867
and institute copies of all of the following: 868
(a) Election results, aggregated by prec inct level. 869
(b) Contemporaneous voter registration lists. 870
(c) Voter history files. 871
(d) Maps, descriptions, and shapefiles for election 872
districts. 873
(e) Lists of election day polling places, shapefiles, or 874
descriptions of the precincts assigned to each election day 875
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polling place. 876
(f) Any other data as requested by the database and 877
institute. 878
(5) At least annually, or upon the request of the direct or 879
of the database and institute, any state entity identified by 880
the director as possessing data, statistics, or other 881
information that the database and institute requires to carry 882
out its duties and responsibilities shall provide such data, 883
statistics, or information to the database and institute. 884
(6) If a state agency or local government fails to provide 885
any information to the database and institute as required by 886
this section, any individual aggrieved by such a violation, any 887
entity whose membership in cludes individuals aggrieved by such a 888
violation, any entity whose mission would be frustrated by such 889
a violation, any entity that would expend resources in order to 890
fulfill its mission as a result of such a violation, the 891
director of the database and ins titute, the Attorney General, or 892
the FLVRA Commission may file an action to enforce compliance 893
with this section. Such a claim may be filed pursuant to the 894
Florida Rules of Civil Procedure or in the Second Judicial 895
Circuit. 896
(7) Within 90 days after the e nd of each state fiscal 897
year, the database and institute shall publish and make 898
available to the public a report relating to its priorities and 899
finances. 900
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(8) There shall be a rebuttable presumption that the data 901
and records maintained by the database and institute are valid. 902
Section 9. Section 97.0295, Florida Statutes, is created 903
to read: 904
97.0295 Florida Voting Rights Act Commission. — 905
(1) The Florida Voting Rights Act Commission, hereinafter 906
referred to as the "FLVRA Commission," a commission as defined 907
in s. 20.03, is created in the department. The FLVRA Commission 908
is responsible for administering this act. 909
(2) The FLVRA Commission shall consist of five 910
commissioners, each of whom shall serve staggered 5 -year terms. 911
Commissioners shall be compe nsated for their actual time spent 912
on FLVRA Commission business at an hourly rate based on the rate 913
equivalent to an assistant attorney general. 914
(a) A nominating committee shall be formed to identify 915
qualified candidates to serve as members of the FLVRA 916
Commission. The nominating committee shall be comprised of 917
nominating organizations, to be selected as follows: 918
1. Organizations may apply with the Secretary of State to 919
be certified as a nominating organization for 5 -year terms, at 920
which point organizat ions may be recertified. The Secretary of 921
State must certify any organization that applies to be a 922
nominating organization if it meets all of the following 923
requirements: 924
a. Demonstrated commitment to the purpose of the FLVRA 925
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Commission and securing the v oting rights of protected class 926
members as defined by the FLVRA Commission, including, but not 927
limited to, reference to such protected class members in its 928
mission statement, involvement in numerous voting rights cases 929
brought within the state on behalf of members of protected 930
classes, or involvement in advocacy in support of the FLVRA 931
Commission. 932
b. Registered as a nonprofit corporation with the 933
Secretary of State. 934
c. In continuous operation as a nonprofit organization 935
under s. 501(c)(3) of the Interna l Revenue Code or as a 936
nonprofit corporation registered with the Secretary of State for 937
at least 20 years. 938
2. If the Secretary of State fails to timely certify an 939
organization that satisfies these qualifications following the 940
organization's application t o be certified as a nominating 941
organization, such organization may file an action against the 942
Secretary of State for a declaratory judgment certifying the 943
organization as a nominating organization. 944
3. A nominating organization may be removed for cause by a 945
majority vote of all of the nominating organizations. 946
4. If there are fewer than 16 nominating organizations 947
certified by the Secretary of State, the nominating committee 948
shall consist of all of the nominating organizations. If there 949
are 16 or more nominating organizations certified by the 950
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Secretary of State, the nominating committee shall consist of 15 951
nominating organizations to be randomly selected from all 952
nominating organizations on an annual basis. 953
5. The nominating committee shall select its o wn chair to 954
preside over meetings and voting. 955
(b) Commissioners shall be selected as follows: 956
1. The nominating committee shall solicit applications to 957
serve on the FLVRA Commission from across the state. 958
Commissioners must meet all of the following cr iteria: 959
a. Be a Florida resident. 960
b. Be a member of The Florida Bar with at least 5 years of 961
legal experience. 962
c. Have demonstrated experience representing or advocating 963
on behalf of members of protected classes. 964
d. Have not served in elected offic e within the previous 5 965
years. 966
e. Not currently serve in any government office or hold 967
any political party office. 968
2. The nominating committee shall maintain a qualified 969
candidate pool consisting of 30 qualified candidates to serve on 970
the FLVRA Commission. Individuals shall only be added to the 971
qualified candidate pool upon a three -fifths vote of the 972
nominating committee. The size of the qualified candidate pool 973
may be increased or decreased from 30 qualified individuals by a 974
three-fifths vote of the no minating committee. 975
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3. All members of the FLVRA Commission shall be randomly 976
selected from the qualified candidate pool. Upon the initial 977
formation of the FLVRA Commission, five commissioners shall be 978
randomly selected from the qualified candidate pool a nd randomly 979
assigned to term lengths of 5 years, 4 years, 3 years, 2 years, 980
and 1 year. At least 60 days before the conclusion of each 981
commissioner's term, a new commissioner shall be randomly 982
selected from the qualified candidate pool to serve a 5 -year 983
term upon the conclusion of the current commissioner's term. 984
Within 30 days after a vacancy occurs on the FLVRA Commission, a 985
new commissioner shall be randomly selected from the qualified 986
candidate pool to complete the vacant term. 987
(3) In any action or in vestigation to enforce this act, 988
the FLVRA Commission may subpoena witnesses; administer oaths; 989
examine individuals under oath; determine material facts; and 990
compel production of records, books, papers, contracts, and 991
other documents in accordance with the ordinary rules of civil 992
procedure. 993
(4) The FLVRA Commission may hire staff and make 994
expenditures as necessary to carry out its responsibilities. 995
(5) The FLVRA Commission may adopt rules to administer 996
this act. 997
Section 10. Section 97.0296, Florida Statutes, is created 998
to read: 999
97.0296 Preclearance. — 1000
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(1) The enactment or implementation of a covered policy by 1001
a covered jurisdiction is subject to preclearance by the FLVRA 1002
Commission. 1003
(2) A covered policy includes any new or modified 1004
qualification for voter registration, prerequisite to voting, or 1005
ordinance, regulation, standard, practice, procedure, or policy 1006
concerning: 1007
(a) Districting or redistricting. 1008
(b) Method of election. 1009
(c) Form of government. 1010
(d) Annexation, incorporation, dissolu tion, consolidation, 1011
or division of a local government. 1012
(e) Removal of individuals from registry lists or 1013
enrollment lists and other activities concerning any such list. 1014
(f) Hours of any early voting site, or location or number 1015
of early voting sites, p olling places, or secure ballot intake 1016
station. 1017
(g) Assignment of voting precincts to polling place or 1018
secure ballot intake station locations. 1019
(h) Assistance offered to protected class members. 1020
(i) Any additional subject matter identified by the FLVR A 1021
Commission pursuant to a rule adopted by the FLVRA Commission, 1022
if the FLVRA Commission determines that any qualification for 1023
voter registration, prerequisite to voting, or ordinance, 1024
regulation, standard, practice, procedure, or policy concerning 1025
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such subject matter may have the effect of diminishing the right 1026
to vote of any protected class member or have the effect of 1027
violating this act. 1028
(3) A covered jurisdiction includes all of the following: 1029
(a) Any local government that, within the previous 25 1030
years, has been subject to any court order, government 1031
enforcement action, court -approved consent decree, or other 1032
settlement in which the local government conceded liability, 1033
based upon a violation of this act, the federal Voting Rights 1034
Act of 1965, the Fif teenth Amendment to the United States 1035
Constitution, a voting -related violation of the Fourteenth 1036
Amendment to the United States Constitution, or violation of any 1037
other state or federal election law based upon discrimination 1038
against members of a protected c lass. 1039
(b) Any local government that, within the previous 25 1040
years, has been subject to any court order, government 1041
enforcement action, court -approved consent decree, or other 1042
settlement in which the local government conceded liability, 1043
based upon a violation of any state or federal civil rights law 1044
or the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution 1045
concerning discrimination against members of a protected class. 1046
(c) Any local government that, during the prior 3 years, 1047
has failed to comply with that local government's obligations to 1048
provide data or information to the statewide database pursuant 1049
to s. 97.0294. 1050
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(d) Any local government that, within the previous 25 1051
years, was found to have enacted or implemented a covered policy 1052
without obtaining preclearance for such covered policy pursuant 1053
to this section. 1054
(e) Any local government that contains at least 1,000 1055
eligible voters of any protected class, or in which members of 1056
any protected class constitute at least 10 percent of the 1057
eligible voter population of the local government, and in which, 1058
in any year in the previous 10 years, the percentage of voters 1059
of any protected class in a local government that participated 1060
in any general election for any local government office is at 1061
least 10 percentage points lower than the percentage of all 1062
voters in the local government that participated in such 1063
election. 1064
(f) Any local government that contains at least 1,000 1065
eligible voters of any protected class, or in which members of 1066
any protected class constitu te at least 10 percent of the 1067
eligible voter population of the local government, and in which, 1068
in any year in the previous 10 years, the percentage of eligible 1069
voters of that protected class who were registered to vote was 1070
at least 10 percentage points low er than the percentage of all 1071
eligible voters in the local government who were registered to 1072
vote. 1073
(g) Any county that contains at least 1,000 eligible 1074
voters of any protected class, or in which members of any 1075
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protected class constitute at least 10 perce nt of the eligible 1076
voter population of the local government, and in which, in any 1077
year in the previous 10 years, the arrest rate among members of 1078
such protected class exceeds the arrest rate among the 1079
population of the local government as a whole by at lea st 10 1080
percentage points. 1081
(h) Any local government that contains at least 1,000 1082
eligible voters of any protected class, or in which members of 1083
any protected class constitute at least 10 percent of the 1084
eligible voter population of the local government, and in which, 1085
in any year in the previous 10 years, based on data made 1086
available by the United States Census, the dissimilarity index 1087
of such protected class, calculated using census tracts, is in 1088
excess of 50 with respect to the race, color, or language -1089
minority group that comprises a plurality within the local 1090
government. 1091
(i) Any school district that contains at least 1,000 1092
eligible voters of any protected class, or in which members of 1093
any protected class constitute at least 10 percent of the 1094
eligible voter population of the local government, and in which, 1095
in any year in the previous 10 years, the graduation rate of 1096
such protected class is lower than the graduation rate of the 1097
entire district student population by at least 10 percentage 1098
points. 1099
(j) Any local government that contains at least 1,000 1100
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eligible voters of any protected class, or in which members of 1101
any protected class constitute at least 10 percent of the 1102
eligible voter population of the local government, and in which, 1103
in any year in the previou s 10 years, the poverty rate among 1104
members of such protected class exceeds the poverty rate among 1105
the population of the local government as a whole by at least 10 1106
percentage points. 1107
(4) The FLVRA Commission must annually determine which 1108
local governments are covered jurisdictions and publish a list 1109
of these local governments online. 1110
(5) If a covered jurisdiction seeks preclearance from the 1111
FLVRA Commission for the adoption or implementation of any 1112
covered policy, the covered jurisdiction must submit the covered 1113
policy to the FLVRA Commission in writing and may obtain 1114
preclearance in accordance with this subsection. 1115
(a) The FLVRA Commission shall review the covered policy 1116
submitted for preclearance, including any public comment, and 1117
make a determination to grant or deny preclearance. The covered 1118
jurisdiction shall bear the burden of proof in any preclearance 1119
determinations. 1120
(b) The FLVRA Commission may only deny preclearance to a 1121
submitted covered policy if the commission determines that the 1122
covered policy is likely to diminish the opportunity or ability 1123
of protected class members to participate in the political 1124
process and elect candidates of their choice or otherwise 1125
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influence the outcome of elections or that the covered policy is 1126
likely to violate this act. If the FLVRA Commission denies 1127
preclearance, the applicable covered jurisdiction may not enact 1128
or implement the cover ed policy. The FLVRA Commission shall 1129
provide written explanation of any denial. 1130
(c) If the FLVRA Commission grants preclearance to a 1131
covered policy, the covered jurisdiction may immediately enact 1132
or implement the covered policy. A determination by the F LVRA 1133
Commission to grant preclearance may not be admissible in or 1134
otherwise considered by a court in any subsequent action 1135
challenging the covered policy. If the FLVRA Commission fails to 1136
deny or grant preclearance to a submitted covered policy within 1137
the time period sets forth in paragraph (d), the covered policy 1138
is deemed precleared, and the covered jurisdiction may enact or 1139
implement the covered policy. 1140
(d) If a covered policy concerns the method of election 1141
for a legislative body, districting or redis tricting, the number 1142
of seats on the legislative body, or annexation, incorporation, 1143
dissolution, consolidation, or division of a local government, 1144
the FLVRA Commission shall review the covered policy, including 1145
any public comment, and make a determination to deny or grant 1146
preclearance within 60 days after the submission of the covered 1147
policy. The FLVRA Commission may invoke up to two extensions of 1148
90 days each to make such a determination. For all other covered 1149
policies, the FLVRA Commission shall review t he covered policy, 1150
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including any public comment, and make a determination to deny 1151
or grant preclearance within 30 days after the submission of the 1152
covered policy. The FLVRA Commission may invoke an extension of 1153
60 days to make such a determination. 1154
(e) Any denial of preclearance under this section may be 1155
appealed only by the covered jurisdiction, and shall be filed in 1156
the Second Judicial Circuit. 1157
(6) If any covered jurisdiction enacts or implements a 1158
covered policy without obtaining preclearance for suc h covered 1159
policy in accordance with this section, any individual aggrieved 1160
by such a violation, any entity whose membership includes 1161
individuals aggrieved by such a violation, any entity whose 1162
mission would be frustrated by such a violation, any entity tha t 1163
would expend resources in order to fulfill its mission as a 1164
result of such a violation, the director of the database and 1165
institute, the Attorney General, or the FLVRA Commission may 1166
file an action to enjoin enactment or implementation and seek 1167
sanctions against the covered jurisdiction for violations of 1168
this section. Such a claim may be filed pursuant to the Florida 1169
Rules of Civil Procedure or in the Second Judicial Circuit. A 1170
claim under this subsection does not preclude, bar, or limit any 1171
other claims that may be brought regarding the covered policy in 1172
any way, including claims brought under other sections of this 1173
act. 1174
(7) If the FLVRA Commission approves preclearance to a 1175
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covered policy in violation of this section, identifies or fails 1176
to identify a list of local governments that are covered 1177
jurisdictions in violation of this section, or otherwise fails 1178
to properly implement any of the provisions of this section, any 1179
individual aggrieved by such a violation, any entity whose 1180
membership includes individ uals aggrieved by such a violation, 1181
any entity whose mission would be frustrated by such a 1182
violation, or any entity that would expend resources in order to 1183
fulfill its mission as a result of such a violation may file an 1184
action seeking appropriate relief, i ncluding, but not limited 1185
to, injunctive relief, against the FLVRA Commission or any other 1186
party as the court deems necessary to effectuate this section. 1187
Such a claim may be filed pursuant to the Florida Rules of Civil 1188
Procedure or in the Second Judicial C ircuit. A claim under this 1189
subsection does not preclude, bar, or limit any other claims 1190
that may be brought regarding any covered policy in any way, 1191
including claims brought under other sections of this act. 1192
(8) The FLVRA Commission shall adopt rules to effectuate 1193
this section, including regulations concerning the content of 1194
and procedure for preclearance submissions, procedures for 1195
public comment and transparency regarding preclearance 1196
determinations, and procedures for expedited and emergency 1197
preclearance determinations, which may deviate from the 1198
timelines provided in paragraph (5)(d), provided that such 1199
preclearance determinations are preliminary. 1200
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Section 11. Section 97.0297, Florida Statutes, is created 1201
to read: 1202
97.0297 Democracy canon. — 1203
(1) Any provision of the Florida Election Code or any 1204
regulation, charter, home rule ordinance, or other enactment of 1205
the state or any local government relating to the right to vote 1206
must be construed liberally in favor of all of the following: 1207
(a) Protecting the right to cast a ballot and make the 1208
ballot valid. 1209
(b) Ensuring eligible individuals seeking voter 1210
registration are not impaired in being registered. 1211
(c) Ensuring voters are not impaired in voting, including, 1212
but not limited to, having their votes c ounted. 1213
(d) Making the fundamental right to vote more accessible 1214
to eligible voters. 1215
(e) Ensuring equitable access for protected class members 1216
to opportunities to be registered to vote and to vote. 1217
(2) It is the policy of the state to promote the fre e flow 1218
of documents and information concerning the intent of public 1219
officials in actions concerning the right to vote. Accordingly, 1220
in any action under this act, the federal Voting Rights Act of 1221
1965, or a voting-related claim under the State Constitution or 1222
the United States Constitution, no sovereign, governmental, 1223
executive, legislative, or deliberative immunities and 1224
privileges, including any evidentiary privileges, may be 1225
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asserted. However, this section does not affect attorney -client 1226
or attorney work-product privileges. 1227
Section 12. Section 97.0298, Florida Statutes, is created 1228
to read: 1229
97.0298 Remedies.— 1230
(1) Whenever a court finds a violation of any provision of 1231
this act, such court shall order appropriate remedies that are 1232
tailored to address such violation and to ensure protected class 1233
members have equitable opportunities to fully participate in the 1234
political process which can be implemented in a manner that will 1235
not unduly disrupt the administration of an ongoing or imminent 1236
election. Appropriate remedies may include, but need not be 1237
limited to: 1238
(a) A district-based method of election. 1239
(b) An alternative method of election. 1240
(c) New or revised districting or redistricting plans. 1241
(d) Eliminating staggered elections so that all members of 1242
the legislative body are elected at the same time. 1243
(e) Reasonably increasing the size of the legislative 1244
body. 1245
(f) Additional voting days or hours. 1246
(g) Additional polling places and early voting sites, as 1247
applicable. 1248
(h) Additional opportunities t o return ballots. 1249
(i) Holding special elections. 1250
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(j) Expanding opportunities for voter registration. 1251
(k) Additional voter education. 1252
(l) Restoring or adding individuals to the statewide voter 1253
registration system. 1254
(m) Retaining jurisdiction for such period of time as the 1255
court deems appropriate. 1256
(2) The court shall consider remedies proposed by any 1257
parties to the action or by interested nonparties. The court may 1258
not give deference or priority to a proposed remedy because it 1259
is proposed by the s tate or any local government. 1260
(3) If necessary to remedy a violation of this act, the 1261
court may require a local government to implement a remedy that 1262
is inconsistent with any other provision of general law, 1263
including any special act, charter or home rule ordinance, or 1264
other enactment of the state or any local government. 1265
(4) Notwithstanding the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure 1266
or any other provision of general law, the court shall grant a 1267
temporary injunction and any other preliminary relief requested 1268
under this section with respect to an upcoming election if the 1269
court determines that the party is likely to succeed on the 1270
merits and it is possible to implement an appropriate temporary 1271
remedy that would resolve the violation alleged under this 1272
section before the election. 1273
(5) In any action to enforce this act, the court must 1274
award reasonable attorney fees and litigation costs, including, 1275
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but not limited to, expert witness fees and expenses, to the 1276
party that filed an action, other than the state or any l ocal 1277
government, and that prevailed in such action. The party that 1278
filed the action is deemed to have prevailed when, as a result 1279
of litigation, the party against whom the action was filed has 1280
yielded some or all of the relief sought in the action. In the 1281
case of a party against whom an action was filed and who 1282
prevailed, the court may not award the party any costs unless 1283
the court finds the action to be frivolous, unreasonable, or 1284
without foundation. 1285
Section 13. Section 97.0299, Florida Statutes, is cr eated 1286
to read: 1287
97.0299 Voter education fund. — 1288
(1) There is established a voter education fund to be 1289
administered by the FLVRA Commission. 1290
(2) The FLVRA Commission may expend moneys from the fund 1291
for any of the following purposes: 1292
(a) Developing and distributing educational materials on 1293
voting rights and the voting process, including information on 1294
voter registration, vote -by-mail, and polling place 1295
accessibility. 1296
(b) Conducting public education campaigns to inform voters 1297
about changes to voting la ws, procedures, or polling locations, 1298
and to counteract false or misleading information about voting. 1299
(c) Providing training and resources to local election 1300
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officials, poll workers, and volunteers on how to ensure fair 1301
and equitable access to the ballot for all eligible voters. 1302
(d) Establishing and maintaining voter hotlines, online 1303
portals, or other mechanisms for voters to report incidents of 1304
voter intimidation, suppression, or discrimination, and for 1305
election officials to respond to such reports. 1306
(e) Supporting voter outreach efforts targeted at 1307
historically underrepresented communities, including, but not 1308
limited to, members of protected classes, low -income 1309
individuals, youth, and people with disabilities. 1310
(f) Providing grants to community -based organizations, 1311
civic groups, and civil rights organizations to conduct voter 1312
education and mobilization activities, such as voter 1313
registration drives, candidate forums, and get -out-the-vote 1314
campaigns, or to engage in nonpartisan advocacy, litigation, or 1315
other legal actions to protect voting rights, challenge 1316
discriminatory voting practices, or seek redress for victims of 1317
voter suppression or intimidation. 1318
(g) Partnering with schools and universities to develop 1319
and implement nonpartisan curricula on civic engagement, voting, 1320
and the importance of participating in the democratic process. 1321
(h) Funding research and evaluation projects to assess the 1322
impact of voter education and outreach efforts on voter 1323
participation and civic engagement, and to identify best 1324
practices for improving access to the ballot. 1325
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Section 14. Section 97.0556, Florida Statutes, is created 1326
to read: 1327
97.0556 Same-day voter registration. —A person who meets 1328
the qualifications to register to vote in s. 97.041 and who 1329
provides the informa tion required for the statewide voter 1330
registration application in s. 97.052 may register at an early 1331
voting site or at his or her polling place and immediately 1332
thereafter cast a ballot. 1333
Section 15. Section 97.057, Florida Statutes, is amended 1334
to read: 1335
97.057 Voter registration by the Department of Highway 1336
Safety and Motor Vehicles. — 1337
(1)(a) Each of the following serves as an application The 1338
Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall provide 1339
the opportunity to preregister to vote, register to vote, or to 1340
update a voter registration record when submitted to the 1341
Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to each 1342
individual who comes to an office of that department to : 1343
1.(a) An application for or renewal of Apply for or renew 1344
a driver license; 1345
2.(b) An application for or renewal of Apply for or renew 1346
an identification card pursuant to chapter 322; or 1347
3.(c) An application for a change of an address on an 1348
existing driver license or identification card. 1349
(b) Unless the applicant declines to register or 1350
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preregister to vote, he or she is deemed to have consented to 1351
the use of the signature from his or her driver license or 1352
identification card application for voter registration purposes. 1353
(2) An application for a driver license or an 1354
identification card must include a voter registration component. 1355
The voter registration component must be approved by the 1356
Department of State and must contain all of the following: 1357
(a) The minimum amount of information necessary to prevent 1358
duplicate voter registrations and to preserve the ability of the 1359
department and supervisors of elections to assess the 1360
eligibility of the applicant and administer voter registration 1361
and other provisions of this code. 1362
(b) A statement setting forth voting eligibility 1363
requirements. 1364
(c) An explanation that the applicant is consenting to the 1365
use of his or her signature from the applicant's driver license 1366
or identification card application for voter registration 1367
purposes. By consenting to the use of his or her signature, the 1368
applicant is deemed to have subscribed to the oath required by 1369
s. 3, Art. VI of the State Constitution and s. 97.051 and to 1370
have sworn and affirmed that the voter registration information 1371
contained in the application i s true under penalty for false 1372
swearing pursuant to s. 104.011. 1373
(d) An option that allows the applicant to choose or 1374
update a party affiliation; otherwise, an applicant who is 1375
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initially registering to vote and does not exercise such option 1376
must be sent a notice by the supervisor of elections in 1377
accordance with s. 97.053(5)(b). 1378
(e) An option that allows the applicant to decline to 1379
register to vote or preregister to vote. The Department of 1380
Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall note any such 1381
declination in its records and forward the declination to the 1382
Department of State. Any declination may be used only for voter 1383
registration purposes and is confidential and exempt from public 1384
records requirements as provided in s. 97.0585. 1385
(3) The Department of Highw ay Safety and Motor Vehicles 1386
shall: 1387
(a) Develop a voter registration component for 1388
applications which meets the requirements set forth in 1389
subsection (2). 1390
(b) Electronically transmit the voter registration 1391
component of an applicant's driver license or i dentification 1392
card application to the Department of State within 24 hours 1393
after receipt. Upon receipt of the voter registration component, 1394
the Department of State shall provide the information to the 1395
supervisor of elections of the county in which the appli cant is 1396
registering or preregistering to vote or updating his or her 1397
voter registration record. 1398
(2) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 1399
shall: 1400
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(a) Notify each individual, orally or in writing, that: 1401
1. Information gathered for the com pletion of a driver 1402
license or identification card application, renewal, or change 1403
of address can be automatically transferred to a voter 1404
registration application; 1405
2. If additional information and a signature are provided, 1406
the voter registration applicat ion will be completed and sent to 1407
the proper election authority; 1408
3. Information provided can also be used to update a voter 1409
registration record; 1410
4. All declinations will remain confidential and may be 1411
used only for voter registration purposes; and 1412
5. The particular driver license office in which the 1413
person applies to register to vote or updates a voter 1414
registration record will remain confidential and may be used 1415
only for voter registration purposes. 1416
(b) Require a driver license examiner to inquire o rally 1417
or, if the applicant is hearing impaired, inquire in writing 1418
whether the applicant wishes to register to vote or update a 1419
voter registration record during the completion of a driver 1420
license or identification card application, renewal, or change 1421
of address. 1422
1. If the applicant chooses to register to vote or to 1423
update a voter registration record: 1424
a. All applicable information received by the Department 1425
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of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in the course of filling 1426
out the forms necessary under subsec tion (1) must be transferred 1427
to a voter registration application. 1428
b. The additional necessary information must be obtained 1429
by the driver license examiner and must not duplicate any 1430
information already obtained while completing the forms required 1431
under subsection (1). 1432
c. A voter registration application with all of the 1433
applicant's voter registration information required to establish 1434
the applicant's eligibility pursuant to s. 97.041 must be 1435
presented to the applicant to review and verify the voter 1436
registration information received and provide an electronic 1437
signature affirming the accuracy of the information provided. 1438
2. If the applicant declines to register to vote, update 1439
the applicant's voter registration record, or change the 1440
applicant's address by ei ther orally declining or by failing to 1441
sign the voter registration application, the Department of 1442
Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles must note such declination on 1443
its records and shall forward the declination to the statewide 1444
voter registration system. 1445
(3) For the purpose of this section, the Department of 1446
Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, with the approval of the 1447
Department of State, shall prescribe: 1448
(a) A voter registration application that is the same in 1449
content, format, and size as the uniform state wide voter 1450
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registration application prescribed under s. 97.052; and 1451
(b) A form that will inform applicants under subsection 1452
(1) of the information contained in paragraph (2)(a). 1453
(4) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 1454
must electronically transmit completed voter registration 1455
applications within 24 hours after receipt to the statewide 1456
voter registration system. Completed paper voter registration 1457
applications received by the Department of Highway Safety and 1458
Motor Vehicles shall be forwarde d within 5 days after receipt to 1459
the supervisor of the county where the office that processed or 1460
received that application is located. 1461
(5) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 1462
must send, with each driver license renewal extension 1463
application authorized pursuant to s. 322.18(8), a uniform 1464
statewide voter registration application, the voter registration 1465
application prescribed under paragraph (3)(a), or a voter 1466
registration application developed especially for the purposes 1467
of this subsection b y the Department of Highway Safety and Motor 1468
Vehicles, with the approval of the Department of State, which 1469
must meet the requirements of s. 97.052. 1470
(4)(6) A person providing voter registration services for 1471
a driver license office may not: 1472
(a) Seek to influence an applicant's political preference 1473
or party registration; 1474
(b) Display any political preference or party allegiance; 1475
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(c) Make any statement to an applicant or take any action 1476
the purpose or effect of which is to discourage the applicant 1477
from registering to vote; or 1478
(d) Disclose any applicant's voter registration 1479
information except as needed for the administration of voter 1480
registration. 1481
(5)(7) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 1482
shall collect data determined necessary by the Department of 1483
State for program evaluation and reporting to the Election 1484
Assistance Commission pursuant to federal law. 1485
(6)(8) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 1486
shall must ensure that all voter registration services provided 1487
by driver license offices are in compliance with the Voting 1488
Rights Act of 1965. 1489
(7)(9) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 1490
shall retain complete records of voter registration information 1491
received, processed, and submitted to the Department of State 1492
statewide voter registration system by the Department of Highway 1493
Safety and Motor Vehicles. The retention of such These records 1494
is shall be for the explicit purpose of supporting audit and 1495
accounting controls established to ensure accurate and complete 1496
electronic transmission of records between the Department of 1497
State statewide voter registration system and the Department of 1498
Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. 1499
(8)(10) The Department of State shall provide the 1500
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Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles with an 1501
electronic database of street addresses valid for use as the 1502
address of legal residence as required in s. 97.053(5). The 1503
Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall compare 1504
the address provided by the applicant against the database of 1505
valid street addresses. If the address provided by the applicant 1506
does not match a valid street address in the database, the 1507
applicant will be asked to verify the address provided. The 1508
Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles may shall not 1509
reject any application for voter registration for which a valid 1510
match cannot be made. 1511
(9)(11) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor 1512
Vehicles shall enter into an agreement with the Department of 1513
State to match information in the statewide voter registration 1514
system with information in the database of the Department of 1515
Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to the extent required to 1516
verify the accuracy of the driver license number, Florida 1517
identification number, or last four digits of the social 1518
security number provided on applications for voter registration 1519
as required in s. 97.053. 1520
(10)(12) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor 1521
Vehicles shall enter into an agreement with the Commissioner of 1522
Social Security as required by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 1523
to verify the last four digits of the social security number 1524
provided in applications for voter registration as required in 1525
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s. 97.053. 1526
(11)(13) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor 1527
Vehicles shall must assist the Department of State in regularly 1528
identifying changes in residence address on the driver license 1529
or identification card of a voter. The Department of State shall 1530
must report each such change to the appropriate supervisor of 1531
elections, who must change the voter's registration records in 1532
accordance with s. 98.065(4). 1533
Section 16. Section 97.0575, Florida Statutes, is amended 1534
to read: 1535
97.0575 Third-party voter registration organizati ons.— 1536
(1) Before engaging in any voter registration activities, 1537
a third-party voter registration organization must register and 1538
provide to the division, in an electronic format, the following 1539
information: 1540
(a) The names of the officers of the organizati on and the 1541
name and permanent address of the organization. 1542
(b) The name and address of the organization's registered 1543
agent in the state. 1544
(c) The names, permanent addresses, and temporary 1545
addresses, if any, of each registration agent registering 1546
persons to vote in this state on behalf of the organization. 1547
This paragraph does not apply to persons who only solicit 1548
applications and do not collect or handle voter registration 1549
applications. 1550
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(d) Beginning November 6, 2024, the specific general 1551
election cycle for which the third-party voter registration 1552
organization is registering persons to vote. 1553
(e) An affirmation that each person collecting or handling 1554
voter registration applications on behalf of the third -party 1555
voter registration organization has not bee n convicted of a 1556
felony violation of the Election Code, a felony violation of an 1557
offense specified in s. 825.103, a felony offense specified in 1558
s. 98.0751(2)(b) or (c), or a felony offense specified in 1559
chapter 817, chapter 831, or chapter 837. A third -party voter 1560
registration organization is liable for a fine in the amount of 1561
$50,000 for each such person who has been convicted of a felony 1562
violation of the Election Code, a felony violation of an offense 1563
specified in s. 825.103, a felony offense specified in s. 1564
98.0751(2)(b) or (c), or a felony offense specified in chapter 1565
817, chapter 831, or chapter 837 who is collecting or handling 1566
voter registration applications on behalf of the third -party 1567
voter registration organization. 1568
(f) An affirmation that each pe rson collecting or handling 1569
voter registration applications on behalf of the third -party 1570
voter registration organization is a citizen of the United 1571
States of America. A third -party voter registration organization 1572
is liable for a fine in the amount of $50,0 00 for each such 1573
person who is not a citizen and is collecting or handling voter 1574
registration applications on behalf of the third -party voter 1575
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registration organization. 1576
(2) Beginning November 6, 2024, the registration of a 1577
third-party voter registration organization automatically 1578
expires at the conclusion of the specific general election cycle 1579
for which the third-party voter registration organization is 1580
registered. 1581
(2)(3) The division or the supervisor of elections shall 1582
make voter registration forms av ailable to third-party voter 1583
registration organizations. All such forms must contain 1584
information identifying the organization to which the forms are 1585
provided. The division shall maintain a database of all third -1586
party voter registration organizations and th e voter 1587
registration forms assigned to the third -party voter 1588
registration organization. Each supervisor of elections shall 1589
provide to the division information on voter registration forms 1590
assigned to and received from third -party voter registration 1591
organizations. The information must be provided in a format and 1592
at times as required by the division by rule. The division shall 1593
update information on third -party voter registrations daily and 1594
make the information publicly available. 1595
(4) A third-party voter registration organization that 1596
collects voter registration applications shall provide a receipt 1597
to an applicant upon accepting possession of his or her 1598
application. The division shall adopt by rule a uniform format 1599
for the receipt by October 1, 2023. The forma t must include, but 1600
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need not be limited to, the name of the applicant, the date the 1601
application is received, the name of the third -party voter 1602
registration organization, the name of the registration agent, 1603
the applicant's political party affiliation, and t he county in 1604
which the applicant resides. 1605
(3)(5)(a) A third-party voter registration organization 1606
that collects voter registration applications serves as a 1607
fiduciary to the applicant and shall ensure that any voter 1608
registration application entrusted to t he organization, 1609
irrespective of party affiliation, race, ethnicity, or gender, 1610
is promptly delivered to the division or the supervisor of 1611
elections in the county in which the applicant resides within 14 1612
10 days after the application is completed by the ap plicant, but 1613
not after registration closes for the next ensuing election. If 1614
a voter registration application collected by any third -party 1615
voter registration organization is not promptly delivered to the 1616
division or supervisor of elections in the county in which the 1617
applicant resides, the third -party voter registration 1618
organization is liable for the following fines: 1619
1. A fine in the amount of $50 per each day late, up to 1620
$2,500, for each application received by the division or the 1621
supervisor of elections in the county in which the applicant 1622
resides more than 14 10 days after the applicant delivered the 1623
completed voter registration application to the third -party 1624
voter registration organization or any person, entity, or agent 1625
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acting on its behalf. A fine in the amount of $250 $2,500 for 1626
each application received if the third -party voter registration 1627
organization or person, entity, or agency acting on its behalf 1628
acted willfully. 1629
2. A fine in the amount of $100 per each day late, up to 1630
$5,000, for each application collected by a third -party voter 1631
registration organization or any person, entity, or agent acting 1632
on its behalf, before book closing for any given election for 1633
federal or state office and received by the division or the 1634
supervisor of elections in the county in which the applicant 1635
resides after the book -closing deadline for such election. A 1636
fine in the amount of $500 $5,000 for each application received 1637
if the third-party voter registration organization or any 1638
person, entity, or agency acting on its be half acted willfully. 1639
3. A fine in the amount of $500 for each application 1640
collected by a third -party voter registration organization or 1641
any person, entity, or agent acting on its behalf, which is not 1642
submitted to the division or supervisor of elections in the 1643
county in which the applicant resides. A fine in the amount of 1644
$1,000 $5,000 for any application not submitted if the third -1645
party voter registration organization or person, entity, or 1646
agency acting on its behalf acted willfully. 1647
1648
The aggregate fine which may be assessed pursuant to this 1649
paragraph against a third -party voter registration organization, 1650
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including affiliate organizations, for violations committed in a 1651
calendar year is $1,000 $250,000. 1652
(b) A showing by the third -party voter registration 1653
organization that the failure to deliver the voter registration 1654
application within the required timeframe is based upon force 1655
majeure or impossibility of performance shall be an affirmative 1656
defense to a violation of this subsection. The secretary may 1657
waive the fines described in this subsection upon a showing that 1658
the failure to deliver the voter registration application 1659
promptly is based upon force majeure or impossibility of 1660
performance. 1661
(6) If a person collecting voter registration applications 1662
on behalf of a third-party voter registration organization 1663
alters the voter registration application of any other person, 1664
without the other person's knowledge and consent, in violation 1665
of s. 104.012(4) and is subsequently convicted of such offense, 1666
the applicable third-party voter registration organization is 1667
liable for a fine in the amount of $5,000 for each application 1668
altered. 1669
(4)(7) If a person collecting voter registration 1670
applications on behalf of a third -party voter registration 1671
organization copies a voter's application or retains a voter's 1672
personal information, such as the voter's Florida driver license 1673
number, Florida identific ation card number, social security 1674
number, or signature, for any reason other than to provide such 1675
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application or information to the third -party voter registration 1676
organization in compliance with this section, the person commits 1677
a felony of the third degre e, punishable as provided in s. 1678
775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 1679
(5)(8) If the Secretary of State reasonably believes that 1680
a person has committed a violation of this section, the 1681
secretary may refer the matter to the Attorney General for 1682
enforcement. The Attorney General may institute a civil action 1683
for a violation of this s ection or to prevent a violation of 1684
this section. An action for relief may include a permanent or 1685
temporary injunction, a restraining order, or any other 1686
appropriate order. 1687
(9) The division shall adopt by rule a form to elicit 1688
specific information concer ning the facts and circumstances from 1689
a person who claims to have been registered to vote by a third -1690
party voter registration organization but who does not appear as 1691
an active voter on the voter registration rolls. The division 1692
shall also adopt rules to en sure the integrity of the 1693
registration process, including controls to ensure that all 1694
completed forms are promptly delivered to the division or a 1695
supervisor in the county in which the applicant resides. 1696
(6)(10) The date on which an applicant signs a vote r 1697
registration application is presumed to be the date on which the 1698
third-party voter registration organization received or 1699
collected the voter registration application. 1700
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(11) A third-party voter registration organization may not 1701
mail or otherwise provide a voter registration application upon 1702
which any information about an applicant has been filled in 1703
before it is provided to the applicant. A third -party voter 1704
registration organization that violates this section is liable 1705
for a fine in the amount of $50 for each such application. 1706
(12) The requirements of this section are retroactive for 1707
any third-party voter registration organization registered with 1708
the department as of July 1, 2023, and must be complied with 1709
within 90 days after the department provides no tice to the 1710
third-party voter registration organization of the requirements 1711
contained in this section. Failure of the third -party voter 1712
registration organization to comply with the requirements within 1713
90 days after receipt of the notice shall automatically result 1714
in the cancellation of the third -party voter registration 1715
organization's registration. 1716
Section 17. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 1717
98.045, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 1718
98.045 Administration of voter registration. — 1719
(4) STATEWIDE ELECTRONIC DATABASE OF VALID RESIDENTIAL 1720
STREET ADDRESSES.— 1721
(b) The department shall make the statewide database of 1722
valid street addresses available to the Department of Highway 1723
Safety and Motor Vehicles as provided in s. 97.057(8) s. 1724
97.057(10). The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 1725
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shall use the database for purposes of validating the legal 1726
residential addresses provided in voter registration 1727
applications received by the Department of Highway Safety and 1728
Motor Vehicles. 1729
Section 18. Section 100.51, Florida Statutes, is created 1730
to read: 1731
100.51 General Election Day paid holiday. —In order to 1732
encourage civic participation, enable more individuals to serve 1733
as poll workers, and provide additional time for the resolution 1734
of any issues that arise while a voter is casting his or her 1735
vote, General Election Day shall be a paid holiday. A voter is 1736
entitled to absent himself or herself from any service or 1737
employment in which he or she is engaged or employed during the 1738
time the polls are open on General Election Day. A voter who 1739
absents himself or herself under this section may not be 1740
penalized in any way, and a deduction may not be made from his 1741
or her usual salary or wages on account of his or her absence. 1742
Section 19. Section 101.016, Flo rida Statutes, is created 1743
to read: 1744
101.016 Strategic elections equipment reserve. —The 1745
division shall maintain a strategic elections equipment reserve 1746
of voting systems that may be deployed in the event of an 1747
emergency as defined in s. 101.732 or upon the occurrence of 1748
equipment capacity issues due to unexpected voter turnout. The 1749
reserve must include tabulation equipment and any other 1750
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necessary equipment, including, but not limited to, printers, 1751
which are in use by each supervisor of elections. In lieu of 1752
maintaining a physical reserve of such equipment, the division 1753
may contract with a vendor of voting equipment to provide such 1754
equipment on an as-needed basis. 1755
Section 20. Section 101.019, Florida Statutes, is 1756
repealed. 1757
Section 21. Subsection (1) a nd paragraphs (a) and (b) of 1758
subsection (2) of section 101.048, Florida Statutes, are amended 1759
to read: 1760
101.048 Provisional ballots. — 1761
(1) At all elections, a voter claiming to be properly 1762
registered in the state and eligible to vote at the precinct in 1763
the election but whose eligibility cannot be determined, a 1764
person whom an election official asserts is not eligible, 1765
including, but not limited to, a person to whom notice has been 1766
sent pursuant to s. 98.075(7), but for whom a final 1767
determination of eligibi lity has not been made, and other 1768
persons specified in the code shall be entitled to vote a 1769
provisional ballot at any precinct in the county in which the 1770
voter claims to be registered . Once voted, the provisional 1771
ballot must be placed in a secrecy envelope and thereafter 1772
sealed in a provisional ballot envelope. The provisional ballot 1773
must be deposited in a ballot box. All provisional ballots must 1774
remain sealed in their envelopes for return to the supervisor of 1775
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elections. The department shall prescribe the f orm of the 1776
provisional ballot envelope. A person casting a provisional 1777
ballot has the right to present written evidence supporting his 1778
or her eligibility to vote to the supervisor of elections by not 1779
later than 5 p.m. on the second day following the electi on. 1780
(2)(a) The county canvassing board shall examine each 1781
Provisional Ballot Voter's Certificate and Affirmation to 1782
determine if the person voting that ballot was entitled to vote 1783
in the county in which at the precinct where the person cast a 1784
vote in the election and that the person had not already cast a 1785
ballot in the election. In determining whether a person casting 1786
a provisional ballot is entitled to vote, the county canvassing 1787
board shall review the information provided in the Voter's 1788
Certificate and Affirmation, written evidence provided by the 1789
person pursuant to subsection (1), information provided in any 1790
cure affidavit and accompanying supporting documentation 1791
pursuant to subsection (6), any other evidence presented by the 1792
supervisor, and, in the ca se of a challenge, any evidence 1793
presented by the challenger. A ballot of a person casting a 1794
provisional ballot shall be canvassed pursuant to paragraph (b) 1795
unless the canvassing board determines by a preponderance of the 1796
evidence that the person was not en titled to vote. 1797
(b) If it is determined that the person was registered and 1798
entitled to vote in the county in which at the precinct where 1799
the person cast a vote in the election, the canvassing board 1800
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must compare the signature on the Provisional Ballot Vot er's 1801
Certificate and Affirmation or the provisional ballot cure 1802
affidavit with the signature on the voter's registration or 1803
precinct register. A provisional ballot may be counted only if: 1804
1. The signature on the voter's certificate or the cure 1805
affidavit matches the elector's signature in the registration 1806
books or the precinct register; however, in the case of a cure 1807
affidavit, the supporting identification listed in subsection 1808
(6) must also confirm the identity of the elector; or 1809
2. The cure affidavit c ontains a signature that does not 1810
match the elector's signature in the registration books or the 1811
precinct register, but the elector has submitted a current and 1812
valid Tier 1 form of identification confirming his or her 1813
identity pursuant to subsection (6). 1814
1815
For purposes of this paragraph, any canvassing board finding 1816
that signatures do not match must be by majority vote and beyond 1817
a reasonable doubt. 1818
Section 22. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and paragraphs 1819
(c) and (d) of subsection (3) of section 101.62 , Florida 1820
Statutes, are amended, and subsection (7) is added to that 1821
section, to read: 1822
101.62 Request for vote -by-mail ballots.— 1823
(1) REQUEST.— 1824
(a) The supervisor shall accept a request for a vote -by-1825
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mail ballot only from a voter or, if directly instr ucted by the 1826
voter, a member of the voter's immediate family or the voter's 1827
legal guardian. A request may be made in person, in writing, by 1828
telephone, or through the supervisor's website. The department 1829
shall prescribe by rule by October 1, 2023, a uniform statewide 1830
application to make a written request for a vote -by-mail ballot 1831
which includes fields for all information required in this 1832
subsection. One request is deemed sufficient to receive a vote -1833
by-mail ballot for all elections until the voter or the vot er's 1834
designee notifies the supervisor that the voter cancels such 1835
request through the end of the calendar year of the next 1836
regularly scheduled general election , unless the voter or the 1837
voter's designee indicates at the time the request is made the 1838
elections within such period for which the voter desires to 1839
receive a vote-by-mail ballot. The supervisor must cancel a 1840
request for a vote-by-mail ballot when any first -class mail or 1841
nonforwardable mail sent by the supervisor to the voter is 1842
returned as undelivera ble. If the voter requests a vote -by-mail 1843
ballot thereafter, the voter must provide or confirm his or her 1844
current residential address. 1845
(3) DELIVERY OF VOTE -BY-MAIL BALLOTS.— 1846
(c) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (a) or 1847
paragraph (b), the supervisor shall mail vote -by-mail ballots 1848
within 2 business days after receiving a request for such a 1849
ballot, but no later than the 11th 10th day before election day. 1850
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The deadline to submit a request for a ballot to be mailed is 5 1851
p.m. local time on the 12th day before an upcoming election. 1852
(d) Upon a request for a vote -by-mail ballot, the 1853
supervisor shall provide a vote -by-mail ballot to each voter by 1854
whom a request for that ballot has been made, by one of the 1855
following means: 1856
1. By nonforwardable, return -if-undeliverable mail to the 1857
voter's current mailing address on file with the supervisor or 1858
any other address the voter specifies in the request. The 1859
envelopes must be prominentl y marked "Do Not Forward." 1860
2. By forwardable mail, e -mail, or facsimile machine 1861
transmission to absent uniformed services voters and overseas 1862
voters. The absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter 1863
may designate in the vote -by-mail ballot request t he preferred 1864
method of transmission. If the voter does not designate the 1865
method of transmission, the vote -by-mail ballot must be mailed. 1866
3. By personal delivery to the voter after vote -by-mail 1867
ballots have been mailed and up to 7 p.m. on election day upo n 1868
presentation of the identification required in s. 101.043. 1869
4. By delivery to the voter's designee after vote -by-mail 1870
ballots have been mailed and up to 7 p.m. on election day. Any 1871
voter may designate in writing a person to pick up the ballot 1872
for the voter; however, the person designated may not pick up 1873
more than two vote-by-mail ballots per election, other than the 1874
designee's own ballot, except that additional ballots may be 1875
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picked up for members of the designee's immediate family. The 1876
designee shall provide to the supervisor the written 1877
authorization by the voter and a picture identification of the 1878
designee and must complete an affidavit. The designee shall 1879
state in the affidavit that the designee is authorized by the 1880
voter to pick up that ballot and sh all indicate if the voter is 1881
a member of the designee's immediate family and, if so, the 1882
relationship. The department shall prescribe the form of the 1883
affidavit. If the supervisor is satisfied that the designee is 1884
authorized to pick up the ballot and that t he signature of the 1885
voter on the written authorization matches the signature of the 1886
voter on file, the supervisor must give the ballot to that 1887
designee for delivery to the voter . 1888
5. Except as provided in s. 101.655, the supervisor may 1889
not deliver a vote-by-mail ballot to a voter or a voter's 1890
designee pursuant to subparagraph 3. or subparagraph 4., 1891
respectively, during the mandatory early voting period and up to 1892
7 p.m. on election day, unless there is an emergency, to the 1893
extent that the voter will be unab le to go to a designated early 1894
voting site in his or her county or to his or her assigned 1895
polling place on election day. If a vote -by-mail ballot is 1896
delivered, the voter or his or her designee must execute an 1897
affidavit affirming to the facts which allow fo r delivery of the 1898
vote-by-mail ballot. The department shall adopt a rule providing 1899
for the form of the affidavit. 1900
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(7) DEADLINES.—If a deadline under this section falls on a 1901
day when the office of a supervisor is usually closed, the 1902
deadline must be exten ded until the next business day. 1903
Section 23. Subsections (1), (2), and (4) of section 1904
101.64, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 1905
101.64 Delivery of vote -by-mail ballots; envelopes; form. — 1906
(1)(a) The supervisor shall enclose with each vote -by-mail 1907
ballot two envelopes: a secrecy envelope, into which the voter 1908
must absent elector shall enclose his or her marked ballot; and 1909
a postage prepaid mailing envelope, into which the voter must 1910
absent elector shall then place the secrecy envelope, which 1911
shall be addressed to the supervisor and also bear on the back 1912
side a certificate in substantially the following form: 1913
Note: Please Read Instructions Carefully Before 1914
Marking Ballot and Completing Voter's Certificate. 1915
VOTER'S CERTIFICATE 1916
I, ...., do solemnly swear or affirm that I am a qualified 1917
and registered voter of .... County, Florida, and that I have 1918
not and will not vote more than one ballot in this election. I 1919
understand that if I commit or attempt to commit any fraud in 1920
connection with voting, vote a fraudulent ballot, or vote more 1921
than once in an election, I can be convicted of a felony of the 1922
third degree and fined up to $5,000 and/or imprisoned for up to 1923
5 years. I also understand that failure to sign this certificate 1924
will invalidate my ballot. 1925
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...(Date)... ...(Voter's Signature or Last Four Digits of 1926
Social Security Number )... 1927
...(E-Mail Address)... ...(Home Telephone Number)... 1928
...(Mobile Telephone Number)... 1929
(b) Each return mailing envelope must bear the voter's 1930
absent elector's name and any encoded mark used by the 1931
supervisor's office. 1932
(c) A mailing envelope or secrecy envelope may not bear 1933
any indication of the political affiliation of a voter an absent 1934
elector. 1935
(2) The certificate must shall be arranged on the back of 1936
the mailing envelope so that the line for the signature or the 1937
last four digits of the social security number of the voter of 1938
the absent elector is across the seal of the envelope; however, 1939
a no statement may not shall appear on the envelope which 1940
indicates that a signature or the last four digits of the social 1941
security number of the voter must cross the seal of the 1942
envelope. The voter must absent elector shall execute the 1943
certificate on the envelope. 1944
(4) The supervisor shall mark, code, indicate on, or 1945
otherwise track the precinct of the voter absent elector for 1946
each vote-by-mail ballot. 1947
Section 24. Subsection (1), paragraph (a) of subsection 1948
(2), and subsection (3) of section 101.69, Florida Statutes, are 1949
amended to read: 1950
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101.69 Voting in person; return of vote -by-mail ballot.— 1951
(1) The provisions of this code may shall not be construed 1952
to prohibit any voter elector from voting in person at the 1953
voter's elector's precinct on the day of an election or at an 1954
early voting site, notwithstanding that the voter elector has 1955
requested a vote-by-mail ballot for that election. A voter an 1956
elector who has returned a voted vote -by-mail ballot to the 1957
supervisor, however, is deemed to have cast his or her ballot 1958
and is not entitled to vote another ballot or to have a 1959
provisional ballot counted by the county canvassing board. A 1960
voter An elector who has received a vote -by-mail ballot and has 1961
not returned the voted ballot to the supervisor, but desires to 1962
vote in person, shall return the ballot, whether voted or not, 1963
to the election boar d in the voter's elector's precinct or to an 1964
early voting site. The returned ballot shall be marked 1965
"canceled" by the board and placed with other canceled ballots. 1966
However, if the voter elector does not return the ballot and the 1967
election official: 1968
(a) Confirms that the supervisor has received the voter's 1969
elector's vote-by-mail ballot, the voter elector shall not be 1970
allowed to vote in person. If the voter elector maintains that 1971
he or she has not returned the vote -by-mail ballot or remains 1972
eligible to vote, the voter elector shall be provided a 1973
provisional ballot as provided in s. 101.048. 1974
(b) Confirms that the supervisor has not received the 1975
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voter's elector's vote-by-mail ballot, the voter elector shall 1976
be allowed to vote in person as provided in this code. The 1977
voter's elector's vote-by-mail ballot, if subsequently received, 1978
shall not be counted and shall remain in the mailing envelope, 1979
and the envelope shall be marked "Rejected as Illegal." 1980
(c) Cannot determine whether the supervisor has received 1981
the voter's elector's vote-by-mail ballot, the elector may vote 1982
a provisional ballot as provided in s. 101.048. 1983
(2)(a) The supervisor shall allow a voter an elector who 1984
has received a vote-by-mail ballot to physically return a voted 1985
vote-by-mail ballot to the supervisor by placing the return mail 1986
envelope containing his or her marked ballot in a secure ballot 1987
intake station. Secure ballot intake stations shall be placed at 1988
the main office of the supervi sor, at each permanent branch 1989
office of the supervisor which meets the criteria set forth in 1990
s. 101.657(1)(a) for branch offices used for early voting and 1991
which is open for at least the minimum number of hours 1992
prescribed by s. 98.015(4), and at each early voting site. 1993
Secure ballot intake stations may also be placed at any other 1994
site that would otherwise qualify as an early voting site under 1995
s. 101.657(1). Secure ballot intake stations must be 1996
geographically located so as to provide all voters in the county 1997
with an equal opportunity to cast a ballot, insofar as is 1998
practicable. Except for secure ballot intake stations at an 1999
office of the supervisor, a secure ballot intake station may 2000
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only be used during the county's early voting hours of operation 2001
and must be monitored in person by an employee of the 2002
supervisor's office. A secure ballot intake station at an office 2003
of the supervisor must be continuously monitored in person by an 2004
employee of the supervisor's office when the secure ballot 2005
intake station is accessible for deposit of ballots. 2006
(3) If any secure ballot intake station is left accessible 2007
for ballot receipt other than as authorized by this section, the 2008
supervisor is subject to a ci vil penalty of $25,000. The 2009
division is authorized to enforce this provision. 2010
Section 25. Subsections (2), (3), and (4) of section 2011
104.0515, Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsections (6) and 2012
(7) are added to that section, to read: 2013
104.0515 Voting rights; deprivation of, or interference 2014
with, prohibited; penalty. — 2015
(2) A No person acting under color of law may not shall: 2016
(a) In determining whether any individual is qualified 2017
under law to vote in any election, apply any standard, practice, 2018
or procedure different from the standards, practices, or 2019
procedures applied under law to other individuals within the 2020
same political subdivision who have been found to be qualified 2021
to vote; or 2022
(b) Deny the right of any individual to vote in any 2023
election because of an error or omission on any record or paper 2024
relating to any application, registration, or other act 2025
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requisite to voting, if such error or omission is not material 2026
in determining whether such individual is qualified under law to 2027
vote in such election. This paragraph shall apply to vote -by-2028
mail ballots only if there is a pattern or history of 2029
discrimination on the basis of race, color, or previous 2030
condition of servitude in regard to vote -by-mail ballots. 2031
(3)(a) A No person, whether acting under color of law or 2032
otherwise, may not deceive, shall intimidate, threaten, or 2033
coerce, or attempt to deceive, intimidate, threaten, or coerce, 2034
any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right 2035
of such other person to vote or not to vote as that person m ay 2036
choose, or for the purpose of causing such other person to vote 2037
for, or not vote for, any candidate for any office at any 2038
general, special, or primary election held solely or in part for 2039
the purpose of selecting or electing any such candidate. 2040
(b) A violation of this subsection includes, but is not 2041
limited to, any the following: 2042
1. The use of force or threats to use force, or the use of 2043
any other conduct to practice intimidation that causes or is 2044
reasonably expected to cause interference with an indi vidual's 2045
right to vote. 2046
2. The knowing use of a deceptive or fraudulent device, 2047
contrivance, or communication that causes or is reasonably 2048
expected to cause interference with an individual's right to 2049
vote. 2050
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3. The obstruction of, impediment to, or other 2051
interference with access to any early voting site, polling 2052
place, secure ballot intake station, or office of the supervisor 2053
of elections in a manner that causes interference with or 2054
delays, or is reasonably expected to interfere with or cause a 2055
delay in, an individual's right to vote or the voting process. 2056
(4) A No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, 2057
and no standard, practice, or procedure, shall be imposed or 2058
applied by any political subdivision of this state may not 2059
impose or apply any voti ng qualification or prerequisite to 2060
voting or any standard, practice, or procedure to deny or 2061
abridge the right of any citizen to vote on account of race or 2062
color. 2063
(6) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any 2064
aggrieved person, organization whose m embership includes or is 2065
likely to include aggrieved persons, organization whose mission 2066
would be frustrated by a violation of this section, organization 2067
that would expend resources in order to fulfill such 2068
organization's mission, the Attorney General, or the FLVRA 2069
Commission may file a civil action alleging a violation of 2070
subsection (3) in a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to 2071
the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure or in the Second Judicial 2072
Circuit. 2073
(7) Notwithstanding any other provision of law an d in 2074
addition to any other remedies that may be imposed, a court that 2075
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finds a violation of subsection (3) shall impose remedies 2076
appropriate to address the violation. Appropriate remedies 2077
include, but are not limited to, requiring an extended voting 2078
period, awarding nominal damages for any violation, and awarding 2079
compensatory or punitive damages for any willful violation. 2080
Section 26. Subsection (1) of section 104.42, Florida 2081
Statutes, is amended to read: 2082
104.42 Fraudulent registration and illegal votin g; 2083
investigation.— 2084
(1) The supervisor of elections is authorized to 2085
investigate fraudulent registrations and illegal voting and to 2086
report his or her findings to the local state attorney and the 2087
Office of Election Crimes and Security . 2088
Section 27. This act shall take effect January 1, 2025. 2089