HB 0931

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to elections; providing a popular name;
3amending s. 97.041, F.S.; providing for automatic
4restoration of former felons' right to vote following
5completion and satisfaction of sentence of incarceration
6and community supervision; providing conditions for such
7automatic restoration; amending ss. 97.052, 97.053, and
898.0977, to conform; providing a contingent effective
9date.
10
11Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
12
13     Section 1.  This act shall be known by the popular name the
14"Citizens' Empowerment Act."
15     Section 2.  Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section
1697.041, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
17     97.041  Qualifications to register or vote.--
18     (2)  The following persons, who might be otherwise
19qualified, are not entitled to register or vote:
20     (b)  A person who has been convicted of any felony by any
21court of record; however, such a person's right to register or
22vote is automatically restored by operation of law 1 year after
23completion and satisfaction of all sentences imposed upon such
24person. For the purposes of this paragraph, "completion and
25satisfaction of all sentences" occurs when a person is released
26from incarceration upon expiration of sentence and has achieved
27or completed all other nonmonetary terms and conditions of the
28sentence or subsequent supervision or, if the person has not
29been incarcerated for a felony offense, has achieved or
30completed all nonmonetary terms and conditions of community
31supervision imposed by a court. If a majority of the Board of
32Executive Clemency objects before the automatic restoration of
33the right to register or vote, such rights shall be restored
34only upon application to, and approval by, the Board of
35Executive Clemency and who has not had his or her right to vote
36restored pursuant to law.
37     Section 3.  Subsection (2) of section 97.052, Florida
38Statutes, is amended to read:
39     97.052  Uniform statewide voter registration application.--
40     (2)  The uniform statewide voter registration application
41must be designed to elicit the following information from the
42applicant:
43     (a)  Full name.
44     (b)  Date of birth.
45     (c)  Address of legal residence.
46     (d)  Mailing address, if different.
47     (e)  County of legal residence.
48     (f)  Address of property for which the applicant has been
49granted a homestead exemption, if any.
50     (g)  Race or ethnicity that best describes the applicant:
51     1.  American Indian or Alaskan Native.
52     2.  Asian or Pacific Islander.
53     3.  Black, not Hispanic.
54     4.  White, not Hispanic.
55     5.  Hispanic.
56     (h)  State or country of birth.
57     (i)  Sex.
58     (j)  Party affiliation.
59     (k)  Whether the applicant needs assistance in voting.
60     (l)  Name and address where last registered.
61     (m)  Last four digits of the applicant's social security
62number.
63     (n)  Florida driver's license number or the identification
64number from a Florida identification card issued under s.
65322.051.
66     (o)  Telephone number (optional).
67     (p)  Signature of applicant under penalty for false
68swearing pursuant to s. 104.011, by which the person subscribes
69to the oath required by s. 3, Art. VI of the State Constitution
70and s. 97.051, and swears or affirms that the information
71contained in the registration application is true.
72     (q)  Whether the application is being used for initial
73registration, to update a voter registration record, or to
74request a replacement registration identification card.
75     (r)  Whether the applicant is a citizen of the United
76States.
77     (s)  That the applicant has not been convicted of a felony
78or, if convicted, has had his or her voting civil rights
79restored.
80     (t)  That the applicant has not been adjudicated mentally
81incapacitated with respect to voting or, if so adjudicated, has
82had his or her right to vote restored.
83
84The registration form must be in plain language and designed so
85that convicted felons whose voting civil rights have been
86restored and persons who have been adjudicated mentally
87incapacitated and have had their voting rights restored are not
88required to reveal their prior conviction or adjudication.
89     Section 4.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section
9097.053, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
91     97.053  Acceptance of voter registration applications.--
92     (5)(a)  A voter registration application is complete if it
93contains:
94     1.  The applicant's name.
95     2.  The applicant's legal residence address.
96     3.  The applicant's date of birth.
97     4.  An indication that the applicant is a citizen of the
98United States.
99     5.  The applicant's Florida driver's license number, the
100identification number from a Florida identification card issued
101under s. 322.051, or the last four digits of the applicant's
102social security number.
103     6.  An indication that the applicant has not been convicted
104of a felony or that, if convicted, has had his or her voting
105civil rights restored.
106     7.  An indication that the applicant has not been
107adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting or
108that, if so adjudicated, has had his or her right to vote
109restored.
110     8.  Signature of the applicant swearing or affirming under
111the penalty for false swearing pursuant to s. 104.011 that the
112information contained in the registration application is true
113and subscribing to the oath required by s. 3, Art. VI of the
114State Constitution and s. 97.051.
115     Section 5.  Subsection (1) and paragraph (d) of subsection
116(3) of section 98.0977, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
117     98.0977  Statewide voter registration database; operation
118and maintenance.--
119     (1)  The department shall operate and maintain the
120statewide, on-line voter registration database and associated
121website until such time as the statewide voter registration
122system required to be developed pursuant to the Help America
123Vote Act of 2002 is operational. The database shall contain
124voter registration information from each of the 67 supervisors
125of elections in this state and shall be accessible through an
126Internet website. The system shall provide functionality for
127ensuring that the database is updated on a daily basis to
128determine if a registered voter is ineligible to vote for any of
129the following reasons, including, but not limited to:
130     (a)  The voter is deceased;
131     (b)  The voter has been convicted of a felony and has not
132had his or her voting civil rights restored; or
133     (c)  The voter has been adjudicated mentally incompetent
134and his or her mental capacity with respect to voting has not
135been restored.
136
137The database shall also allow for duplicate voter registrations
138to be identified.
139     (3)
140     (d)  When the supervisor of elections finds information
141through the database that suggests that a voter has been
142convicted of a felony and has not had his or her voting civil
143rights restored or has been adjudicated mentally incompetent and
144his or her mental capacity with respect to voting has not been
145restored, the supervisor of elections shall notify the voter by
146certified United States mail. The notification shall contain a
147statement as to the reason for the voter's potential
148ineligibility to be registered to vote and shall request
149information from the voter on forms provided by the supervisor
150of elections. As an alternative, the voter may attend a hearing
151at a time and place specified in the notice. If there is
152evidence that the notice was not received, notice must be given
153once by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the
154county. The notice must plainly state that the voter is
155potentially ineligible to be registered to vote and must state a
156time and place for the person to appear before the supervisor of
157elections to show cause why his or her name should not be
158removed from the voter registration rolls. After reviewing the
159information provided by the voter, if the supervisor of
160elections determines that the voter is not eligible to vote
161under the laws of this state, the supervisor of elections shall
162notify the voter by certified United States mail that he or she
163has been found ineligible to be registered to vote in this
164state, shall state the reason for the ineligibility, and shall
165inform the voter that he or she has been removed from the voter
166registration rolls. The supervisor of elections shall remove
167from the voter registration rolls the name of any voter who
168fails either to respond within 30 days to the notice sent by
169certified mail or to attend the hearing.
170     Section 6.  This act shall take effect on the effective
171date of House Joint Resolution 799 or another amendment to the
172State Constitution which authorizes, or removes impediments to,
173enactment of this act by the Legislature.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.