The Florida Senate

¹101.47  Requirements before elector enters voting machine booth.--

(1)  Whenever voting machines are used, each elector desiring to vote shall identify himself or herself to the clerk or an inspector of the election as a duly qualified elector at such election by signing his or her signature, in ink or indelible pencil, to an identification blank or slip which is in substantially the form provided by this code.

(2)  The clerk or inspector shall compare the signature with the signature of the elector upon the registration books, and, if satisfied that the signature is the same, the clerk or inspector then shall initial the slip in the place provided and the initials shall constitute an oath or affirmation of the fact stated by the clerk or inspector above his or her initials.

(3)  The supervisor shall supply sufficient containers for each precinct, each container to be securely sealed. Each container shall have a slot large enough to receive the identification slips. Before the polls open, the clerk, in the presence of all inspectors and the public, shall open the container and ascertain that it is empty and, while empty, shall securely seal same, leaving a slot open without breaking or removing the seal; and the clerk or inspectors shall sign their names upon the seal. Printed forms of seals shall be furnished with each container, containing a statement over the place for the signature that the container was opened, emptied, and sealed while empty before the polls were opened; the signing of the certificate shall constitute the clerk's or inspector's certificate to the facts.

(4)  No person shall be admitted to a voting machine unless the person presents to the clerk or inspector an identification slip as provided in subsections (1) and (2).

(5)  Before the elector enters a voting machine he or she shall deliver his or her identification slip duly signed to the clerk or inspector operating the machine. The clerk or inspector shall also initial the slip, and his or her initials shall constitute an oath or affirmation as to the printed facts set forth above his or her initials; then the clerk or inspector shall deposit the slip through the slot in the locked or sealed container.

(6)  The identification slip, when signed by any person as an elector and initialed by the clerk or inspector comparing the person's signature and by the clerk or inspector admitting the person to the voting machine and depositing slip in the container, shall be prima facie evidence that the person whose name appears thereon as an elector was admitted to the voting machine and that the person voted.

(7)  The clerk and inspectors shall return all unused signature identification blanks to the supervisor immediately on the closing of the polls and shall seal the slot of the container with a seal signed by all the election officials in that precinct, and the clerk shall deliver same to the supervisor. The supervisor shall destroy all unused signature identification slips as soon as practicable.

(8)  The identification slip shall be in substantially the following form:

No. _____

Held in _____ County, Florida, on the _____ day of _____, A. D.  (year) .

I affix my signature hereto in the place and at the time of voting for the purpose of identifying myself as a duly registered and qualified voter in this election.

 (Signature of voter) 

I hereby certify that the foregoing signature was signed in my presence during voting hours at this voting precinct and by me compared with that on the registration books and approved for voting in precinct No. _____.

 (Initials of clerk or inspector) 

I hereby certify that I admitted the person who signed this identification slip to the voting machine; that said voter was personally known to me, or told me that he or she signed it; and that the number of the voting machine is _____.

 (Initials of official operating machine) 

(9)  The supervisor of elections shall prepare and deliver to each precinct the same number of signature identification slips as there are qualified electors for such precinct. In being prepared, the slips shall either be numbered consecutively beginning with number (1) and continued to such number as there are qualified electors for the county or be uniquely numbered for each elector. In preparing the identification slips, the appropriate information to designate the date, name of county, and kind of election (general, special, or primary) shall be printed in at the appropriate blank spaces appearing in the form. The supervisor shall preserve for 1 year a record in his or her office showing the number of signature identification slips which he or she delivered to each precinct, designating on such record the precinct number and address and numbers of slips so delivered.

(10)  Any certificate signed by any clerk or inspector of any election certifying to the result of the election in or for any precinct is admissible in evidence in the trial of any cause, either civil or criminal, in any court in the state and, when admitted, shall constitute prima facie evidence that it was signed by the persons whose names are signed thereto and conclusive proof that any person who signed the certificate as clerk or inspector of election was duly appointed and qualified to act throughout the election and in the capacity indicated upon said certificate, unless the contrary is disclosed thereby.

(11)  The identification slips and all other election materials required to be delivered to each precinct shall be delivered by enclosing and locking same in the voting machine or a sealed container, along with an itemized list with a receipt in the form: "I hereby certify that I have checked the items listed hereon and acknowledge receipt thereof," which receipt shall be signed by the clerk of the precinct and deposited in the container provided for identification slips.

(12)  It shall be unlawful for any person, other than the printer while printing and delivering the slips to the supervisor of elections, the supervisor and the supervisor's agents in placing the slips in the voting machine or a sealed container for delivery to the voting precincts, the clerks and inspectors, and qualified electors while acting inside of polling places during the election, to have in his or her possession any signature identification slip or other slip containing the same or substantially the same wording as the signature identification slip; and it shall be unlawful for any person or official to deliver any official slip or other slip containing the same or substantially the same wording as the signature identification slip to any person other than as provided in this section.

(13)  All signature identification slips where voting machines are used shall be preserved by the clerk and inspectors of election, but, in those instances where an affidavit has been made in addition to the identification slip, such affidavits and slips bearing the signature of the same persons shall be placed together in a separate envelope and kept separate from the remaining slips. All such slips and affidavits preserved shall be returned to the supervisor whose duty it is to preserve them for at least 1 year.

History.--s. 1, ch. 18407, 1937; CGL 1940 Supp. 337(28-c); s. 1, ch. 22018, 1943; s. 3, ch. 24089, 1947; s. 5, ch. 26870, 1951; s. 29, ch. 28156, 1953; s. 22, ch. 65-380; s. 1, ch. 67-41; ss. 1, 2, ch. 70-105; s. 18, ch. 77-175; s. 37, ch. 79-400; s. 572, ch. 95-147; s. 10, ch. 99-6; s. 33, ch. 2001-40.

¹Note.--Repealed September 2, 2002, by s. 33, ch. 2001-40.

Note.--Former s. 100.34.