House Bill hb0493e1
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HB 493, First Engrossed
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to voter registration; amending
3 s. 97.052, F.S.; authorizing private
4 individuals and groups to reproduce voter
5 registration applications under certain
6 conditions; amending s. 97.057, F.S.; requiring
7 the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
8 Vehicles to forward copies of unsigned voter
9 registration applications within a specified
10 period to the appropriate supervisors of
11 elections; amending s. 97.058, F.S.; requiring
12 voter registration agencies to forward copies
13 of incompleted voter registration applications
14 within a specified period to the appropriate
15 supervisors of elections; amending s. 97.071,
16 F.S.; requiring voter registration
17 identification cards to have the name, rather
18 than the signature, of the supervisor of
19 elections; amending s. 97.1031, F.S.; revising
20 notice requirements for change of residence
21 within the same county; amending s. 98.0977,
22 F.S.; revising duties of the supervisor of
23 elections relating to maintenance of the voter
24 registration rolls; providing for a hearing, as
25 an alternative to notice, to determine the
26 eligibility of voters convicted of a felony or
27 adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect
28 to voting; requiring removal of a person's name
29 from the registration books upon a
30 determination of sufficient evidence; providing
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HB 493, First Engrossed
1 for appeal and for payment of the costs
2 thereof; providing an effective date.
3
4 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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6 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section
7 97.052, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
8 97.052 Uniform statewide voter registration
9 application.--
10 (1) The department shall prescribe a uniform statewide
11 voter registration application for use in this state.
12 (c) The uniform statewide voter registration
13 application may not be reproduced by any private individual or
14 group, provided the reproduced application is in the same
15 format as the application prescribed under this section.
16 Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section
17 97.057, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
18 97.057 Voter registration by the Department of Highway
19 Safety and Motor Vehicles.--
20 (2) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor
21 Vehicles shall:
22 (b) Require a driver's license examiner to inquire
23 orally, or inquire in writing if the applicant is hearing
24 impaired, and whether the applicant wishes to register to vote
25 or update a voter registration record during the completion of
26 a driver's license or identification card application,
27 renewal, or change of address.
28 1. If the applicant chooses to register to vote or to
29 update a voter registration record:
30 a. All applicable information received by the
31 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in the course
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HB 493, First Engrossed
1 of filling out the forms necessary under subsection (1) must
2 be transferred to a voter registration application;
3 b. The additional necessary information must be
4 obtained by the driver's license examiner and must not
5 duplicate any information already obtained while completing
6 the forms required under subsection (1); and
7 c. A voter registration application with all of the
8 applicant's voter registration information must be presented
9 to the applicant to sign.
10 2. If the applicant declines to register to vote,
11 update the applicant's voter registration record, or change
12 the applicant's address by either orally declining or by
13 failing to sign the voter registration application, the
14 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles must keep the
15 declination for 2 years but must forward a copy of the
16 unsigned voter registration application within 5 days after
17 receipt to the appropriate supervisor of elections.
18 Section 3. Subsection (7) of of section 97.058,
19 Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
20 97.058 Voter registration agencies.--
21 (7) A voter registration agency must retain
22 declinations for a period of 2 years, during which time the
23 declinations are not considered a record of the client
24 pursuant to the laws governing the agency's records. However,
25 a voter registration agency must forward a copy of each
26 incompleted voter registration application within 5 days after
27 receipt to the appropriate supervisor of elections.
28 Section 4. Paragraph (j) of subsection (1) of section
29 97.071, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
30 97.071 Registration identification card.--
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HB 493, First Engrossed
1 (1) A registration identification card must be
2 furnished to all voters registering under the permanent single
3 registration system and must contain:
4 (j) Name Signature of supervisor.
5 Section 5. Subsection (1) of section 97.1031, Florida
6 Statutes, is amended to read:
7 97.1031 Notice of change of residence within the same
8 county, change of name, or change of party.--
9 (1) When an elector moves from the address named on
10 that person's voter registration record to another address
11 within the same county, the elector must provide a signed,
12 written notification of such move to the supervisor of
13 elections of that county. The elector may provide the
14 supervisor a signed, written notice or may notify the
15 supervisor by telephone or electronic means. However,
16 notification of such move other than by signed, written notice
17 must include the elector's date of birth. and obtain A
18 registration identification card reflecting the new address of
19 legal residence shall be issued to the elector as provided in
20 subsection (4).
21 Section 6. Subsection (3) of section 98.0977, Florida
22 Statutes, is amended to read:
23 98.0977 Statewide voter registration database;
24 development and maintenance.--
25 (3)(a) In administering the database, each supervisor
26 of elections shall compare registration information provided
27 by a voter with information held by the Department of Law
28 Enforcement, the Board of Executive Clemency, the Office of
29 Vital Statistics, and other relevant sources.
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HB 493, First Engrossed
1 (b) The supervisor of elections shall remove from the
2 voter registration rolls the name of any person who is listed
3 in the database as deceased.
4 (c) Information in the database indicating that a
5 person registered to vote in a given county has subsequently
6 registered to vote in another jurisdiction shall be considered
7 as a written request from that voter to have his or her name
8 removed from the voter registration rolls of that county, and
9 the supervisor of elections of that county shall remove that
10 voter's name from the county's voter registration rolls.
11 (d) When If the supervisor of elections finds
12 information through the database that suggests that a voter
13 has been convicted of a felony and has not had his or her
14 civil rights restored or has been adjudicated mentally
15 incompetent and his or her mental capacity with respect to
16 voting has not been restored is ineligible to register to
17 vote, the supervisor of elections shall notify the voter by
18 certified United States mail. The notification shall contain
19 a statement as to the reason for the voter's potential
20 ineligibility to be registered register to vote and shall
21 request information from the voter on forms provided by the
22 supervisor of elections in order to make a final determination
23 on the voter's eligibility. As an alternative, the voter may
24 attend a hearing at a time and place specified in the notice.
25 If there is evidence that the notice was not received, notice
26 must be given once by publication in a newspaper of general
27 circulation in the county. The notice must plainly state that
28 the voter is potentially ineligible to be registered to vote
29 and must state a time and place for the person to appear
30 before the supervisor of elections to show cause why his or
31 her name should not be removed from the voter registration
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HB 493, First Engrossed
1 rolls. After reviewing the information requested by the
2 supervisor of elections and provided by the voter, if the
3 supervisor of elections determines that the voter is not
4 eligible to vote under the laws of this state, the supervisor
5 of elections shall notify the voter by certified United States
6 mail that he or she has been found ineligible to be registered
7 register to vote in this state, shall state the reason for the
8 ineligibility, and shall inform the voter that he or she has
9 been will be removed from the voter registration rolls. The
10 supervisor of elections shall remove from the voter
11 registration rolls the name of any voter who fails either to
12 respond within 30 days to the notice sent by certified mail or
13 to attend the hearing.
14 (e) Upon hearing all evidence in a hearing, the
15 supervisor of elections must determine whether there is
16 sufficient evidence to strike the person's name from the
17 registration books. If the supervisor determines that there
18 is sufficient evidence, he or she must strike the name.
19 (f) Appeal may be taken to the circuit court in and
20 for the county where the person was registered. Notice of
21 appeal must be filed within the time and in the manner
22 provided by the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure and acts
23 as supersedeas. Trial in the circuit court is de novo and
24 governed by the rules of that court. Unless the person can
25 show that his or her name was erroneously or illegally
26 stricken from the registration books or that he or she is
27 indigent, the person must bear the costs of the trial in the
28 circuit court. Otherwise, the cost of the appeal must be paid
29 by the board of county commissioners.
30 Section 7. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
31 law.
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