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| 1 | A bill to be entitled | ||
| 2 | An act relating to voter education; requiring district | ||
| 3 | school boards and county supervisors of elections jointly | ||
| 4 | to provide a program of voter education for high school | ||
| 5 | seniors; providing program requirements, including form, | ||
| 6 | participation, content, and time conducted; providing for | ||
| 7 | the use of county voting equipment in high school | ||
| 8 | elections under certain conditions; providing an effective | ||
| 9 | date. | ||
| 10 | |||
| 11 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: | ||
| 12 | |||
| 13 | Section 1. (1) Each district school board and county | ||
| 14 | supervisor of elections shall cooperate to provide voter | ||
| 15 | education to high school students who are in grade 12. The voter | ||
| 16 | education shall be in the form of a presentation and is | ||
| 17 | mandatory for public high schools and voluntary for nonpublic | ||
| 18 | high schools. Each supervisor of elections shall conduct and | ||
| 19 | provide voting equipment for the presentations for the public | ||
| 20 | high schools and, upon request, the nonpublic high schools. | ||
| 21 | (2) The voter education must include information | ||
| 22 | concerning: | ||
| 23 | (a) How to register to vote and preregister to vote. | ||
| 24 | (b) The operation of the type of voting equipment used in | ||
| 25 | the county, including, where applicable, new electronic voting | ||
| 26 | machines. | ||
| 27 | (c) How, when, and where to vote. | ||
| 28 | (d) The importance of voting. | ||
| 29 | (e) Voting by absentee ballot. | ||
| 30 | (f) How to work at a poll on election day. | ||
| 31 | (g) How to qualify as a candidate for elected office. | ||
| 32 | (3) The voter education program must provide students with | ||
| 33 | the opportunity, sufficient information, and sufficient time to | ||
| 34 | complete and hand in to the supervisor of elections applications | ||
| 35 | for voter registration. | ||
| 36 | (4) The voter education program shall be conducted during | ||
| 37 | school hours each term of the school year in order to reach a | ||
| 38 | maximum number of students in the most effective and efficient | ||
| 39 | manner, as determined by local school board policy. | ||
| 40 | (5) A student may not be excluded from the voter education | ||
| 41 | program due to an irregular class schedule, and students | ||
| 42 | enrolled in a magnet program must be provided voter education. | ||
| 43 | Section 2. As an adjunct to the voter education program | ||
| 44 | and to familiarize high school students who are in grade 12 with | ||
| 45 | the voting system used in their county, each school district may | ||
| 46 | make arrangements with the supervisor of elections for use of | ||
| 47 | the county's voting equipment in any election held in a high | ||
| 48 | school in the district in which only students are candidates, if | ||
| 49 | there is no conflict with another scheduled election as | ||
| 50 | determined by the supervisor of elections. | ||
| 51 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004. | ||