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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 voter assistance; creating s. 2
97.027, F.S.; providing definitions; requiring a 3
supervisor of elections or a political subdivision 4
that administers an election to provide certain 5
language-related assistance to a limited English -6
proficient voter under certain circumstances; 7
requiring such supervisor of elections or political 8
subdivision to provide election materials of a certain 9
quality in a covered language; requiring the manual 10
translation of English language text; authorizing the 11
use of automatic translation services under certain 12
circumstances; requiring that election materials 13
prepared in a covered language must be made available 14
at the same time as comparable English language 15
election materials; requiring a supervisor of 16
elections to operate and provide public notice of an 17
assistance hotline; providing requirements for the 18
hotline; requiring a supervisor of elections to 19
provide certain notices in a covered language under 20
certain circumstances; requiring a supervisor of 21
elections or a political subdivision to replicate 22
certain signs and posters in certain covered languages 23
and display or distribute such signs and posters in 24
the same form and manner as English language signs; 25
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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
requiring a governmental entity responsible for 26
redistricting to provide certain translation services 27
and translations; providing requirements for such 28
translation services; authorizing certain parties to 29
bring certain actions against a supervisor of 30
elections or a political subdivision; requiring the 31
court to provide an expedited hearing; requiring a 32
court to grant certain relief and implement certain 33
remedies upon making certain findings; providing that 34
certain parties are liable for damages; providing for 35
the award of attorney fees and costs in certain 36
circumstances; requiring supervisors of elections and 37
certain political subdivisions to collect certain 38
data; requiring supervisors of elections and political 39
subdivisions to publish a certain report annually; 40
requiring certain translation services to be in 41
compliance with certain federal laws; creating the 42
Language Assistance Task Force; providing the purposes 43
of the task force; providing for membership of the 44
task force; requiring the task force to submit a 45
certain report to the Department of State; providing 46
for the expiration of the task force; providing an 47
effective date. 48
49
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 50
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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
51
Section 1. Section 97.027, Florida Statutes, is created to 52
read: 53
97.027 Limited English -proficient voter assistance. — 54
(1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 55
(a) "Covered language" means the language of a member of a 56
language minority group. 57
(b) "Election materials" means materials relating to 58
elections which are intended to be read by a voter and which are 59
provided by a supervisor of elections or political subdivision, 60
including, but not limited to, ballots, sample ballots, vote -by-61
mail ballots, vote-by-mail ballot requests, voting guides, 62
voting instructions, voter registration applications and 63
materials, polling place signage, notices, websites containing 64
election-related information, and electronic communications, 65
including social media communications. 66
(c) "Language minority group" has the same meaning as in 67
s. 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, and 68
includes a group of persons whose primary language is Haitian -69
Creole or Brazilian-Portuguese. 70
(d) "Limited English -proficient voter" means a member of a 71
language minority group who does not speak or understand English 72
adequately to participate in th e electoral process. A person who 73
has not completed the fifth grade is presumed to not speak or 74
understand English adequately to participate in the electoral 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
process. 76
(e) "Political subdivision" means a county, municipality, 77
or special district. 78
(2) ASSISTANCE FOR LIMITED ENGLISH -PROFICIENT VOTERS.—A 79
supervisor of elections or political subdivision that 80
administers an election shall provide language -related 81
assistance in a covered language to a limited English -proficient 82
voter if, based on data from the United States Census Bureau 83
American Community Survey or data of comparable quality 84
collected by a governmental entity: 85
(a) More than 2 percent of the residents of voting age in 86
the political subdivision in which the election is held are 87
members of a single-language minority group and limited English -88
proficient voters, if that percentage equals 300 or more 89
persons; or 90
(b) For an election held in a political subdivision that 91
contains any part of a Native American reservation, more than 2 92
percent of the Native American residents of voting age in the 93
Native American reservation are members of a single language 94
minority group and limited English -proficient voters. For 95
purposes of this paragraph, the term "Native American" means a 96
person recognized by the Un ited States Census Bureau or the 97
state as an American Indian. 98
(3) ELECTION MATERIALS. — 99
(a) A supervisor of elections or a political subdivision 100
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shall provide to a limited English -proficient voter election 101
materials in his or her covered language that are the same 102
quality as comparable English language election materials. 103
(b) English language text must be manually translated. 104
Automatic translation services may only be used when manual 105
translation is not possible. 106
(c) Election materials prepared in a covered language must 107
be made available at the same time as comparable English 108
language election materials. 109
(4) ASSISTANCE HOTLINE. —A supervisor of elections shall 110
operate and provide public notice of an assistance hotline that 111
provides language assista nce to limited English -proficient 112
voters which is staffed during early voting hours, all hours 113
during which a polling place is open on election day, and all 114
hours of the period after election day during which a voter may 115
cure a vote-by-mail ballot or provi sional ballot deficiency. The 116
hotline must, upon connecting with a caller, provide a prompt 117
that allows the caller to meaningfully access language 118
assistance in the caller's covered language. The hotline must 119
also provide assistance to voters who require a ssistance by 120
reason of blindness, disability, or inability to read or write. 121
(5) NOTICES.— 122
(a) A supervisor of elections who is required to provide 123
language-related assistance in a covered language under 124
subsection (2) shall provide, in such covered la nguage, notice 125
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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
of: 126
1. Election materials in covered languages for limited 127
English-proficient voters by prominently displaying signage at 128
the main office and branch offices of the supervisor, making 129
printed materials available to voters, and posting infor mation 130
on the supervisor's public website. 131
2. The addresses and operating hours of early voting 132
sites, secure ballot intake station locations, and polling 133
places by prominently displaying signage at the main office and 134
branch offices of the supervisor, m aking printed materials 135
available to voters, and posting information on the supervisor's 136
public website. 137
3. Any change in the address or operating hours of an 138
early voting site, a secure ballot intake station location, or a 139
polling place by the same mean s as such notice is provided to 140
voters in English. 141
(b) An English language sign or poster containing 142
election-related information which is displayed or distributed 143
by a supervisor of elections or a political subdivision must be 144
replicated in each covered language for which the supervisor or 145
political subdivision is required to provide language -related 146
assistance under subsection (2). A replicated sign or poster 147
must be displayed or distributed in the same form and manner and 148
must use the same font size fo r any printed text as the English 149
language sign or poster. 150
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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
(6) TRANSLATIONS RELATING TO REDISTRICTING. —A governmental 151
entity responsible for a redistricting process must provide 152
translation services at meetings and hearings related to 153
redistricting and translations of redistricting materials in 154
each covered language in which a supervisor of elections or 155
political subdivision within an affected geographical area is 156
required to provide election materials. The translation services 157
provided by the governmenta l entity must be sufficient to allow 158
a member of a language minority group who speaks such a covered 159
language to testify at such meeting or hearing for an amount of 160
time equal to that allowed to an English -language speaker, 161
notwithstanding the amount of ti me used to translate the covered 162
language. 163
(7) ACTION FOR DECLARATORY JUDGMENT AND INJUNCTIVE 164
RELIEF.— 165
(a) Any limited English -proficient voter, organization 166
whose membership includes limited English -proficient voters, or 167
organization with the mission of ensuring voting access which is 168
affected by a violation of this section may bring an action 169
against a supervisor of elections or a political subdivision in 170
a court of competent jurisdiction for declaratory judgment and 171
injunctive relief to enforce the r equirements of this section. 172
(b) The court shall provide an expedited hearing for any 173
action brought under this subsection. 174
(c) The court shall grant injunctive relief upon finding 175
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that the plaintiff is more likely than not to succeed on the 176
merits and that it is possible to implement an appropriate 177
remedy resolving the alleged violation before an upcoming 178
election. 179
(d) Upon finding by a preponderance of the evidence that a 180
violation of this section has occurred, the court shall 181
implement appropriate remedies. Appropriate remedies include, 182
but are not limited to, the following: 183
1. Extending the voting period for additional hours or 184
days. 185
2. Requiring a special election. 186
3. Expanding the opportunities for voter registration and 187
early voting. 188
4. Requiring additional voter education outreach. 189
5. Requiring the provision of requested translation 190
services. 191
6. Any reasonable remedy proposed by the prevailing party. 192
(e) The court shall consider remedies proposed by the 193
parties to the action and in terested nonparties, but may not 194
provide automatic deference or priority to a remedy proposed by 195
a supervisor of elections or a political subdivision. 196
(f) A party found to be in violation of this section is 197
liable for damages, including compensatory and punitive damages 198
for an intentional violation. 199
(g) The court shall award reasonable attorney fees and 200
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costs to the prevailing party, except that attorney fees and 201
costs may not be awarded to a prevailing defendant unless the 202
court finds that the action a gainst the defendant was frivolous, 203
unreasonable, or without merit. A plaintiff is deemed to have 204
prevailed in an action when, as a result of the action, the 205
court grants most or all of the specific relief sought by the 206
plaintiff. 207
(8) DATA COLLECTION. — 208
(a) Supervisors of elections and political subdivisions 209
that administer elections shall collect data on language -related 210
assistance and translation services provided to limited English -211
proficient voters. Data collection shall include: 212
1. Documentation of all encounters with limited English -213
proficient voters. 214
2. Tracking the Department of State's frequency of contact 215
with limited English -proficient voters, including proactive 216
outreach conducted by a supervisor of elections or a political 217
subdivision and responsive contact to limited English -proficient 218
voters. 219
3. A record of each limited English -proficient voter's 220
covered language, which must be stored with the voter's voter 221
registration record. 222
4. The number of requests for translation services made 223
within each political subdivision. 224
5. The number of requests for language -related assistance 225
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made to each supervisor of elections and each political 226
subdivision. 227
6. The number of limited English -proficient voters within 228
each political subdivision. 229
7. Documentation of specific language assistance resources 230
that are available. 231
8. The frequency of encounters a supervisor of elections 232
or political subdivision has with limited English -proficient 233
voters. 234
9. The results of surveys provided to limited En glish-235
proficient voters to determine whether the available language 236
assistance resources are meeting voter needs. 237
(b) Each supervisor of elections and political subdivision 238
that administers elections shall publish by July 1, 2025, and 239
annually thereafter a report containing the data collected under 240
paragraph (a). 241
(9) COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL LAW. —Translation services 242
provided under this section must be uniform, nondiscriminatory, 243
and in compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the 244
National Voter Registration Act of 1993, the Help America Vote 245
Act of 2002, and the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and 246
Handicapped Act of 1984. 247
Section 2. Language Assistance Task Force. — 248
(1) The Language Assistance Task Force, a task force as 249
defined in s. 20.03(5), Florida Statutes, is created within the 250
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Department of State for the purpose of providing recommendations 251
to the department for the development and implementation of the 252
language-related assistance and translation services required 253
under s. 97.0275, Florida Statutes. Except as otherwise provided 254
in this section, the task force shall comply with the 255
requirements of s. 20.052, Florida Statutes. 256
(2) The task force shall be composed of the following 257
members, appointed by the Secretary of State: 258
(a) For each covered language as defined in s. 97.027(1), 259
Florida Statutes, a member fluent in such language. 260
(b) Representatives of community -based organizations that 261
are involved in ensuring voting access for limited English -262
proficient voters. 263
264
In appointing members to the task force, the Secretary of State 265
shall consider whether the persons and organizations have 266
experience with limited English -proficient voters in the state 267
or relevant political subdivisions and shall prioritize 268
selecting members from diver se backgrounds. 269
(3) The task force shall submit a report of its 270
recommendations to the department by June 30, 2025. Upon 271
submission of the report, the task force shall expire. 272
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 273