Florida Senate - 2013 SB 1260 By Senator Ring 29-01783-13 20131260__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to public records; amending s. 3 97.0585, F.S.; providing an exemption from public 4 records requirements for the e-mail addresses of voter 5 registration applicants and voters; providing for 6 future legislative review and repeal of the exemption 7 under the Open Government Sunset Review Act; providing 8 a statement of public necessity; providing a 9 contingent effective date. 10 11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 12 13 Section 1. Section 97.0585, Florida Statutes, is amended to 14 read: 15 97.0585 Public records exemption; information regarding 16 voters and voter registration; confidentiality.— 17 (1) The following information held by an agency as defined 18 in s. 119.011 is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and 19 s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution and may be used only 20 for purposes of voter registration: 21 (a) All declinations to register to vote made pursuant to 22 ss. 97.057 and 97.058. 23 (b) Information relating to the place where a person 24 registered to vote or where a person updated a voter 25 registration. 26 (c) The social security number, driver’s license number, 27 and Florida identification number of a voter registration 28 applicant or voter. 29 (d) The e-mail address of a voter registration applicant or 30 voter. 31 (2) The signature of a voter registration applicant or a 32 voter is exempt from the copying requirements of s. 119.07(1) 33 and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 34 (3) The names, addresses, and telephone numbers of persons 35 who are victims of stalking or aggravated stalking are exempt 36 from s. 119.071(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 37 Constitution in the same manner that the names, addresses, and 38 telephone numbers of participants in the Address Confidentiality 39 Program for Victims of Domestic Violence which are held by the 40 Attorney General under s. 741.465 are exempt from disclosure, 41 provided that the victim files a sworn statement of stalking 42 with the Office of the Attorney General and otherwise complies 43 with the procedures in ss. 741.401-741.409. 44 (4) This section applies to information held by an agency 45 before, on, or after the effective date of this exemption. 46 (5)(a) Subsection (3) is subject to the Open Government 47 Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand 48 repealed on October 2, 2015, unless reviewed and saved from 49 repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. 50 (b) Paragraph (1)(d) is subject to the Open Government 51 Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand 52 repealed on October 2, 2018, unless reviewed and saved from 53 repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. 54 Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 55 necessity that the e-mail address of a voter registration 56 applicant or voter that is held by an agency be made 57 confidential and exempt from public record requirements. E-mail 58 addresses are personal information that could be misused and 59 could result in voter fraud if released. A voter may request an 60 absentee ballot using an e-mail address. Public access to that 61 e-mail address could make others aware of those voters intending 62 to vote using an absentee ballot and could result in 63 confiscation and misuse of a mailed absentee ballot by a person 64 other than the registered voter before the registered voter 65 receives the requested absentee ballot. In addition, collection 66 of the e-mail address of a voter registration applicant or a 67 registered voter would allow the supervisors of elections to 68 send sample ballots electronically, thereby saving counties 69 money. If a voter registration applicant or a registered voter 70 knows that his or her e-mail address is subject to public 71 disclosure, he or she may be less willing to provide the address 72 to the supervisor of elections. Accordingly, the effective and 73 efficient administration of a government program would be 74 significantly impaired. 75 Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that 76 SB _____ or similar legislation takes effect, if such 77 legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an 78 extension thereof and becomes law.