House Bill hb0105

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 105

        By Representative Smith






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to elections; creating the

  3         "Citizens' Empowerment Act"; amending s.

  4         97.041, F.S.; providing for automatic

  5         restoration of former felons' right to vote

  6         following completion and satisfaction of

  7         sentence of incarceration and community

  8         supervision; providing conditions for such

  9         automatic restoration; amending ss. 97.052,

10         97.053, and 98.0977, F.S., to conform;

11         providing a conditional effective date.

12

13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

14

15         Section 1.  This act may be cited as the "Citizens'

16  Empowerment Act."

17         Section 2.  Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section

18  97.041, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

19         97.041  Qualifications to register or vote.--

20         (2)  The following persons, who might be otherwise

21  qualified, are not entitled to register or vote:

22         (b)  A person who has been convicted of any felony by

23  any court of record; however, such a person's right to

24  register or vote is automatically restored by operation of law

25  1 year after completion and satisfaction of all sentences

26  imposed upon such person. For the purposes of this paragraph,

27  "completion and satisfaction of all sentences" occurs when a

28  person is released from incarceration upon expiration of

29  sentence and has achieved or completed all other nonmonetary

30  terms and conditions of the sentence or subsequent supervision

31  or, if the person has not been incarcerated for the felony

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 105

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  1  offense, has achieved or completed all nonmonetary terms and

  2  conditions of community supervision imposed by a court and who

  3  has not had his or her right to vote restored pursuant to law.

  4  If a majority of the Board of Executive Clemency objects

  5  before the automatic restoration of the right to register or

  6  vote, such rights shall be restored only upon application to,

  7  and approval by, the Board of Executive Clemency.

  8         Section 3.  Subsection (2) of section 97.052, Florida

  9  Statutes, is amended to read:

10         97.052  Uniform statewide voter registration

11  application.--

12         (2)  The uniform statewide voter registration

13  application must be designed to elicit the following

14  information from the applicant:

15         (a)  Full name.

16         (b)  Date of birth.

17         (c)  Address of legal residence.

18         (d)  Mailing address, if different.

19         (e)  County of legal residence.

20         (f)  Address of property for which the applicant has

21  been granted a homestead exemption, if any.

22         (g)  Race or ethnicity that best describes the

23  applicant:

24         1.  American Indian or Alaskan Native.

25         2.  Asian or Pacific Islander.

26         3.  Black, not Hispanic.

27         4.  White, not Hispanic.

28         5.  Hispanic.

29         (h)  Sex.

30         (i)  Party affiliation.

31         (j)  Whether the applicant needs assistance in voting.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 105

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  1         (k)  Name and address where last registered.

  2         (l)  Last four digits of the applicant's social

  3  security number.

  4         (m)  Florida driver's license number or the

  5  identification number from a Florida identification card

  6  issued under s. 322.051.

  7         (n)  Telephone number (optional).

  8         (o)  Signature of applicant under penalty for false

  9  swearing pursuant to s. 104.011, by which the person

10  subscribes to the oath required by s. 3, Art. VI of the State

11  Constitution and s. 97.051, and swears or affirms that the

12  information contained in the registration application is true.

13         (p)  Whether the application is being used for initial

14  registration, to update a voter registration record, or to

15  request a replacement registration identification card.

16         (q)  Whether the applicant is a citizen of the United

17  States.

18         (r)  That the applicant has not been convicted of a

19  felony or, if convicted, has had his or her voting civil

20  rights restored.

21         (s)  That the applicant has not been adjudicated

22  mentally incapacitated with respect to voting or, if so

23  adjudicated, has had his or her right to vote restored.

24

25  The registration form must be in plain language and designed

26  so that convicted felons whose voting civil rights have been

27  restored and persons who have been adjudicated mentally

28  incapacitated and have had their voting rights restored are

29  not required to reveal their prior conviction or adjudication.

30         Section 4.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section

31  97.053, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 105

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  1         97.053  Acceptance of voter registration

  2  applications.--

  3         (5)(a)  A voter registration application is complete if

  4  it contains:

  5         1.  The applicant's name.

  6         2.  The applicant's legal residence address.

  7         3.  The applicant's date of birth.

  8         4.  An indication that the applicant is a citizen of

  9  the United States.

10         5.  The last four digits of the applicant's social

11  security number.

12         6.  An indication that the applicant has not been

13  convicted of a felony or that, if convicted, has had his or

14  her voting civil rights restored.

15         7.  An indication that the applicant has not been

16  adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting or

17  that, if so adjudicated, has had his or her right to vote

18  restored.

19         8.  Signature of the applicant swearing or affirming

20  under the penalty for false swearing pursuant to s. 104.011

21  that the information contained in the registration application

22  is true and subscribing to the oath required by s. 3, Art. VI

23  of the State Constitution and s. 97.051.

24         Section 5.  Subsection (1) of section 98.0977, Florida

25  Statutes, is amended to read:

26         98.0977  Statewide voter registration database;

27  development and maintenance.--

28         (1)  From the funds appropriated, the department may

29  contract with the Florida Association of Court Clerks to

30  analyze, design, develop, operate, and maintain a statewide,

31  on-line voter registration database and associated website, to

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 105

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  1  be fully operational statewide by June 1, 2002. The database

  2  shall contain voter registration information from each of the

  3  67 supervisors of elections in this state and shall be

  4  accessible through an Internet website. The system shall

  5  provide functionality for ensuring that the database is

  6  updated on a daily basis to determine if a registered voter is

  7  ineligible to vote for any of the following reasons,

  8  including, but not limited to:

  9         (a)  The voter is deceased;

10         (b)  The voter has been convicted of a felony and has

11  not had his or her voting civil rights restored; or

12         (c)  The voter has been adjudicated mentally

13  incompetent and his or her mental capacity with respect to

14  voting has not been restored.

15

16  The database shall also allow for duplicate voter

17  registrations to be identified.

18         Section 6.  This act shall take effect on the effective

19  date of House Joint Resolution No. ___ or another amendment to

20  the State Constitution which authorizes, or removes

21  impediments to, enactment of this act by the Legislature.

22

23            *****************************************

24                          HOUSE SUMMARY

25
      Creates the "Citizens' Empowerment Act." Provides that a
26    convicted felon who is incarcerated or is on probation,
      parole, or community control may not vote. Provides for
27    restoration of that right 1 year after completion of the
      sentence, unless automatic restoration is objected to by
28    a majority of the Board of Executive Clemency.

29

30

31

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