HB 51 2025
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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; amending s. 99.061, 2
F.S.; requiring write -in candidates to pay certain 3
fees; amending ss. 99.092 and 105.031, F.S.; 4
conforming provisions to changes made by this act; 5
creating s. 100.012, F.S.; prohibiting a write -in 6
candidate from being considered an opponent for 7
certain purposes; amending s. 101.015, F.S.; requiring 8
the Department of State to adopt rules for security of 9
voting systems; requiring such rules to prohibit 10
connection to the Internet; amending s. 101.5604, 11
F.S.; authorizing counties to count ballots by hand at 12
the precinct level; providing an effective date. 13
14
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida : 15
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Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 99.061, Florida 17
Statutes, is amended to read: 18
99.061 Method of qualifying for nomination or election to 19
federal, state, county, or district office. — 20
(4)(a) Each person seeking to qualify for election to 21
office as a write-in candidate shall file his or her 22
qualification papers with the respective qualifying officer at 23
any time after noon of the 1st day for qualifying, but not later 24
than noon of the last day of the qualifying period for the 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
office sought. 26
(b) Any person who is seeking election as a write -in 27
candidate shall not be required to pay a filing fee, election 28
assessment, or party assessment. A write-in candidate is not 29
entitled to have his or her name printed on any ballot; however, 30
space for the write-in candidate's name to be written in must be 31
provided on the general election ballot. A person may not 32
qualify as a write-in candidate if the person has also otherwise 33
qualified for nomination or election to such office. 34
Section 2. Subsection (1) of s ection 99.092, Florida 35
Statutes, is amended to read: 36
99.092 Qualifying fee of candidate; notification of 37
Department of State. — 38
(1) Each person seeking to qualify for nomination or 39
election to any office, except a person seeking to qualify by 40
the petition process pursuant to s. 99.095 and except a person 41
seeking to qualify as a write -in candidate, shall pay a 42
qualifying fee, which shall consist of a filing fee and election 43
assessment, to the officer with whom the person qualifies, and 44
any party assessment levied, and shall attach the original or 45
signed duplicate of the receipt for his or her party assessment 46
or pay the same, in accordance with the provisions of s. 47
103.121, at the time of filing his or her other qualifying 48
papers. The amount of the filing fee is 3 percent of the annual 49
salary of the office. The amount of the election assessment is 1 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
percent of the annual salary of the office sought. The election 51
assessment shall be transferred to the Elections Commission 52
Trust Fund. The amount of the party assessment is 2 percent of 53
the annual salary. The annual salary of the office for purposes 54
of computing the filing fee, election assessment, and party 55
assessment shall be computed by multiplying 12 times the monthly 56
salary, excluding any special qualificat ion pay, authorized for 57
such office as of July 1 immediately preceding the first day of 58
qualifying. No qualifying fee shall be returned to the candidate 59
unless the candidate withdraws his or her candidacy before the 60
last date to qualify. If a candidate die s prior to an election 61
and has not withdrawn his or her candidacy before the last date 62
to qualify, the candidate's qualifying fee shall be returned to 63
his or her designated beneficiary, and, if the filing fee or any 64
portion thereof has been transferred to the political party of 65
the candidate, the Secretary of State shall direct the party to 66
return that portion to the designated beneficiary of the 67
candidate. 68
Section 3. Subsection (3) of section 105.031, Florida 69
Statutes, is amended to read: 70
105.031 Qualification; filing fee; candidate's oath; items 71
required to be filed. — 72
(3) QUALIFYING FEE. —Each candidate qualifying for election 73
to a judicial office or the office of school board member , 74
except write-in judicial or school board candidates, shall, 75
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during the time for qualifying, pay to the officer with whom he 76
or she qualifies a qualifying fee, which shall consist of a 77
filing fee and an election assessment, or qualify by the 78
petition process. The amount of the filing fee is 3 percent of 79
the annual salary of the office sought. The amount of the 80
election assessment is 1 percent of the annual salary of the 81
office sought. The Department of State shall transfer all filing 82
fees to the Department of Legal Affairs for deposit in the 83
Elections Commission Trust Fun d. The supervisor of elections 84
shall forward all filing fees to the Elections Commission Trust 85
Fund. The election assessment shall be deposited into the 86
Elections Commission Trust Fund. The annual salary of the office 87
for purposes of computing the qualifyi ng fee shall be computed 88
by multiplying 12 times the monthly salary authorized for such 89
office as of July 1 immediately preceding the first day of 90
qualifying. This subsection does not apply to candidates 91
qualifying for retention to judicial office. 92
Section 4. Section 100.012, Florida Statutes, is created 93
to read: 94
100.012 Determination of opposition in a general 95
election.—For purposes of implementing s. 5(b), Art. VI of the 96
State Constitution, a write -in candidate may not be considered 97
to be an opponent. 98
Section 5. Paragraphs (d) and (e) of subsection (1) of 99
section 101.015, Florida Statutes, are amended, and paragraph 100
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(f) is added to that subsection to read: 101
101.015 Standards for voting systems. — 102
(1) The Department of State shall adopt rules which 103
establish minimum standards for hardware and software for 104
electronic and electromechanical voting systems. Such rules 105
shall contain standards for: 106
(d) Documentation requirements; and 107
(e) Evaluation criteria ; and. 108
(f) Security, including a requi rement that voting systems 109
may not connect to the Internet. 110
Section 6. Section 101.5604, Florida Statutes, is amended 111
to read: 112
101.5604 Adoption of system; procurement of equipment; 113
commercial tabulations. —The board of county commissioners of any 114
county, at any regular meeting or a special meeting called for 115
the purpose, may, upon consultation with the supervisor of 116
elections, adopt, purchase or otherwise procure, and provide for 117
the use of any electronic or electromechanical voting system 118
approved by the Department of State in all or a portion of the 119
election precincts of that county. Thereafter the electronic or 120
electromechanical voting system may be used for voting at all 121
elections for public and party offices and on all measures and 122
for receiving, registering, and counting the votes thereof in 123
such election precincts as the governing body directs. A county 124
may must use an electronic or electromechanical precinct -count 125
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tabulation voting system or may count ballots by hand at the 126
precinct level. 127
Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 128