Senate Bill sb0404
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Florida Senate - 2001 SB 404
By Senator Miller
21-303A-01
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to elections; creating The
3 Citizens' Empowerment Act; amending s. 97.041,
4 F.S.; providing for automatic restoration of
5 former felons' right to vote following
6 completion and satisfaction of sentence of
7 incarceration and community supervision;
8 providing conditions for such automatic
9 restoration; requiring the Department of
10 Corrections to complete necessary paperwork and
11 file it with the Board of Executive Clemency;
12 amending ss. 97.052, 97.053, and 98.0975, F.S.,
13 to conform; providing a conditional effective
14 date.
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16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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18 Section 1. This act may be cited as "The Citizens'
19 Empowerment Act."
20 Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section
21 97.041, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
22 97.041 Qualifications to register or vote.--
23 (2) The following persons, who might be otherwise
24 qualified, are not entitled to register or vote:
25 (b) A person who has been convicted of any felony by
26 any court of record; however, such a person's right to
27 register to vote is automatically restored after satisfaction
28 of all sentences imposed upon such person. For the purposes of
29 this paragraph, "completion and satisfaction of all sentences"
30 occurs when a person is released from incarceration upon
31 expiration of sentence and has achieved or completed all other
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Florida Senate - 2001 SB 404
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1 nonmonetary terms and conditions of the sentence or subsequent
2 supervision or, if the person has not been incarcerated for
3 the felony offense, has achieved or completed all nonmonetary
4 terms and conditions of community supervision imposed by a
5 court and who has not had his or her right to vote restored
6 pursuant to law. The Department of Corrections shall complete
7 the necessary paperwork for restoration of such person's
8 voting rights. The Department of Corrections shall file these
9 papers with the Board of Executive Clemency.
10 Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 97.052, Florida
11 Statutes, is amended to read:
12 97.052 Uniform statewide voter registration
13 application.--
14 (2) The uniform statewide voter registration
15 application must be designed to elicit the following
16 information from the applicant:
17 (a) Full name.
18 (b) Date of birth.
19 (c) Address of legal residence.
20 (d) Mailing address, if different.
21 (e) County of legal residence.
22 (f) Address of property for which the applicant has
23 been granted a homestead exemption, if any.
24 (g) Race or ethnicity that best describes the
25 applicant:
26 1. American Indian or Alaskan Native.
27 2. Asian or Pacific Islander.
28 3. Black, not Hispanic.
29 4. White, not Hispanic.
30 5. Hispanic.
31 (h) Sex.
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Florida Senate - 2001 SB 404
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1 (i) Party affiliation.
2 (j) Whether the applicant needs assistance in voting.
3 (k) Name and address where last registered.
4 (l) Last four digits of the applicant's social
5 security number.
6 (m) Florida driver's license number or the
7 identification number from a Florida identification card
8 issued under s. 322.051.
9 (n) Telephone number (optional).
10 (o) Signature of applicant under penalty for false
11 swearing pursuant to s. 104.011, by which the person
12 subscribes to the oath required by s. 3, Art. VI of the State
13 Constitution and s. 97.051, and swears or affirms that the
14 information contained in the registration application is true.
15 (p) Whether the application is being used for initial
16 registration, to update a voter registration record, or to
17 request a replacement registration identification card.
18 (q) Whether the applicant is a citizen of the United
19 States.
20 (r) That the applicant has not been convicted of a
21 felony or, if convicted, has had his or her voting civil
22 rights restored.
23 (s) That the applicant has not been adjudicated
24 mentally incapacitated with respect to voting or, if so
25 adjudicated, has had his or her right to vote restored.
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27 The registration form must be in plain language and designed
28 so that convicted felons whose voting civil rights have been
29 restored and persons who have been adjudicated mentally
30 incapacitated and have had their voting rights restored are
31 not required to reveal their prior conviction or adjudication.
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Florida Senate - 2001 SB 404
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1 Section 4. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section
2 97.053, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
3 97.053 Acceptance of voter registration
4 applications.--
5 (5)(a) A voter registration application is complete if
6 it contains:
7 1. The applicant's name.
8 2. The applicant's legal residence address.
9 3. The applicant's date of birth.
10 4. An indication that the applicant is a citizen of
11 the United States.
12 5. The last four digits of the applicant's social
13 security number.
14 6. An indication that the applicant has not been
15 convicted of a felony or that, if convicted, has had his or
16 her voting civil rights restored.
17 7. An indication that the applicant has not been
18 adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting or
19 that, if so adjudicated, has had his or her right to vote
20 restored.
21 8. Signature of the applicant swearing or affirming
22 under the penalty for false swearing pursuant to s. 104.011
23 that the information contained in the registration application
24 is true and subscribing to the oath required by s. 3, Art. VI
25 of the State Constitution and s. 97.051.
26 Section 5. Subsection (1) of section 98.0975, Florida
27 Statutes, is amended to read:
28 98.0975 Central voter file; periodic list
29 maintenance.--
30 (1) By August 15, 1998, The division shall provide to
31 each county supervisor of elections a list containing the
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1 name, address, date of birth, race, gender, and any other
2 available information identifying the voter of each person
3 included in the central voter file as a registered voter in
4 the supervisor's county who:
5 (a) Is deceased;
6 (b) Has been convicted of a felony and has not had his
7 or her voting civil rights restored; or
8 (c) Has been adjudicated mentally incompetent and
9 whose mental capacity with respect to voting has not been
10 restored.
11 Section 6. This act shall take effect on the effective
12 date of Senate Joint Resolution No. ____.
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15 SENATE SUMMARY
16 Provides that a felon's right to register to vote is
automatically restored after completion and satisfaction
17 of all sentences imposed on such person. Prescribes
conditions. Requires the Department of Corrections to
18 complete the necessary paperwork and to file it with the
Board of Executive Clemency.
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