Florida Senate - 2018                                     SB 704
       
       
        
       By Senator Farmer
       
       
       
       
       
       34-00977-18                                            2018704__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to voter registration; amending s.
    3         97.057, F.S.; revising procedures governing voter
    4         registration administered by the Department of Highway
    5         Safety and Motor Vehicles; providing that driver
    6         license or identification card applications, driver
    7         license or identification card renewal applications,
    8         and changes of address for existing driver licenses or
    9         identification cards submitted to the department serve
   10         as voter registration applications; specifying that an
   11         applicant must consent to the use of his or her
   12         signature for voter registration purposes; requiring
   13         specified applications to include a voter registration
   14         component; specifying required content for the voter
   15         registration component; providing for paper-based
   16         applications; requiring the supervisor of elections to
   17         provide a notification of registration to each
   18         applicant; providing that an applicant is registered,
   19         or has his or her voter registration record updated,
   20         if he or she fails to respond to the notification
   21         within a specified timeframe; requiring the supervisor
   22         to forward declinations to the statewide voter
   23         registration system; amending s. 98.045, F.S.;
   24         conforming a cross-reference; providing an effective
   25         date.
   26  
   27         WHEREAS, voter registration is one of the biggest barriers
   28  to full participation in our democracy, and
   29         WHEREAS, Congress enacted the National Voter Registration
   30  Act of 1993, commonly known as the “Motor Voter Act,” with
   31  findings recognizing that the right of citizens to vote is a
   32  fundamental right and that federal, state, and local governments
   33  have the duty to promote the exercise of this right, and
   34         WHEREAS, the Legislature intends to provide residents of
   35  this state with enhanced access to participate in democracy
   36  through the exercise of their fundamental right to vote by
   37  streamlining and modernizing voter registration procedures used
   38  by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, NOW,
   39  THEREFORE,
   40  
   41  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   42  
   43         Section 1. Subsections (1) through (5) of section 97.057,
   44  Florida Statutes, are amended, new subsections (6) and (7) are
   45  added to that section, and present subsections (6) through (12)
   46  of that section are renumbered as subsections (8) through (14),
   47  respectively, to read:
   48         97.057 Voter registration by the Department of Highway
   49  Safety and Motor Vehicles.—
   50         (Substantial rewording of subsections. See
   51         s. 97.057(1)-(5), F.S., for present text.)
   52         (1) Each of the following serves as an application to
   53  register to vote or to update a voter registration record when
   54  submitted to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
   55  Vehicles:
   56         (a) An application for a driver license, including a
   57  renewal application or a change of address for an existing
   58  driver license.
   59         (b) An application for an identification card issued
   60  pursuant to chapter 322, including a renewal application or a
   61  change of address for an existing identification card.
   62  
   63  For voter registration purposes, an applicant must consent to
   64  the use of the signature from his or her driver license or
   65  identification card application unless the applicant declines to
   66  register to vote or declines to update his or her voter
   67  registration record.
   68         (2) An application for a driver license or an
   69  identification card must include a voter registration component.
   70  The voter registration component must be approved by the
   71  Department of State. The voter registration component of a
   72  driver license or identification card application must contain:
   73         (a) The minimum amount of information necessary to prevent
   74  duplicate voter registrations and preserve the ability of the
   75  department and supervisors of elections to assess the
   76  eligibility of the applicant and to administer voter
   77  registration and other provisions of the Florida Election Code.
   78         (b) A statement setting forth voting eligibility
   79  requirements.
   80         (c) An explanation that the applicant has consented, for
   81  voter registration purposes, to the use of his or her signature
   82  from the applicant’s driver license or identification card
   83  application. By consenting to the use of his or her signature,
   84  the applicant is deemed to have subscribed to the oath required
   85  by s. 3, Art. VI of the State Constitution and s. 97.051 and to
   86  have sworn and affirmed that the voter registration information
   87  contained in the application is true under penalty for false
   88  swearing pursuant to s. 104.011.
   89         (d) An option that allows the applicant to decline to
   90  register to vote or to decline to update his or her voter
   91  registration record. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor
   92  Vehicles shall note any such declination in its records and
   93  forward the declination to the statewide voter registration
   94  system.
   95         (3) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
   96  shall develop a voter registration component for paper-based
   97  renewal applications which meets the requirements in subsection
   98  (2). The voter registration component must be approved by the
   99  Department of State.
  100         (4) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
  101  shall electronically transmit the voter registration component
  102  of an applicant’s driver license or identification card
  103  application to the statewide voter registration system within 24
  104  hours after receipt. Upon receipt of the voter registration
  105  component, the Department of State shall provide the information
  106  to the supervisor of the county in which the applicant has been
  107  registered as an elector. For completed paper-based
  108  applications, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
  109  Vehicles shall forward the voter registration component to the
  110  supervisor of the county where the office that processes or
  111  receives that application is located within 5 days after
  112  receipt.
  113         (5) Following receipt of voter registration information,
  114  the supervisor shall notify each applicant of the process to:
  115         (a) Decline being registered as an elector or decline to
  116  update his or her voter registration record.
  117         (b) Designate a party affiliation if the applicant is not
  118  currently registered to vote in this state.
  119         (6) If an applicant who is notified under subsection (5)
  120  does not decline to be registered as an elector or does not
  121  decline to update his or her voter registration record within 21
  122  calendar days after the supervisor issues the notification, the
  123  applicant’s voter registration component of his or her
  124  application constitutes a completed voter registration
  125  application for purposes of this chapter. The applicant shall be
  126  registered to vote if the supervisor determines that the
  127  applicant is eligible to vote under s. 97.041 and the applicant
  128  is not already registered to vote. An applicant who does not
  129  respond to the notification to designate a party affiliation
  130  shall be registered without party affiliation as provided under
  131  s. 97.053(5)(b).
  132         (7) If an applicant declines to register to vote or
  133  declines to update his or her voter registration record after
  134  receiving a notification issued pursuant to subsection (5), the
  135  supervisor shall note such declination in his or her records and
  136  forward the declination to the statewide voter registration
  137  system. However, an applicant’s declination may not be used for
  138  any purpose other than voter registration.
  139         Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section
  140  98.045, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  141         98.045 Administration of voter registration.—
  142         (4) STATEWIDE ELECTRONIC DATABASE OF VALID RESIDENTIAL
  143  STREET ADDRESSES.—
  144         (b) The department shall make the statewide database of
  145  valid street addresses available to the Department of Highway
  146  Safety and Motor Vehicles as provided in s. 97.057(12) s.
  147  97.057(10). The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
  148  shall use the database for purposes of validating the legal
  149  residential addresses provided in voter registration
  150  applications received by the Department of Highway Safety and
  151  Motor Vehicles.
  152         Section 3. This act shall take effect January 1, 2019.