HB 1591

CS

CHAMBER ACTION

1	The State Administration Council recommends the following:
2
3	Council/Committee Substitute
4	Remove the entire bill and insert:
5
6	A bill to be entitled
7	An act relating to public records; amending s. 97.0585,
8	F.S.; revising an exemption from the public-records law
9	which is provided for information concerning persons who
10	decline to register to vote, information relating to the
11	place where a person registered to vote or updated a
12	registration, and a voter's signature and social security
13	number; creating exemptions from disclosure for a voter's
14	driver's license number and Florida identification number;
15	deleting an exemption from disclosure provided for the
16	voter's telephone number; providing certain exceptions;
17	providing for future legislative review and repeal under
18	the Open Government Sunset Review Act; providing a finding
19	of public necessity; providing a contingent effective
20	date.
21
22	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
23
24	Section 1.  Section 97.0585, Florida Statutes, is amended
25	to read:
26	97.0585  Public-records exemption; information regarding
27	voters and voter registration Declinations to register; place of
28	registration and registration information; confidentiality.--
29	(1)  The following information concerning voters and voter
30	registration held by an agency as defined in s. 119.011 is
31	confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I
32	of the State Constitution and may be used only for purposes of
33	voter registration:
34	(a)  All declinations to register to vote made pursuant to
35	ss. 97.057 and 97.058 are confidential and exempt from the
36	provisions of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
37	Constitution and may be used only for voter registration
38	purposes.
39	(b)(2)  Information relating to the place where a person
40	registered to vote or where a person updated a voter
41	registration.
42	(c)  The social security number, driver's license number,
43	and Florida identification number of a voter registration
44	applicant or voter.
45	(2)  The signature of a voter registration applicant or a
46	voter is confidential and exempt from the provisions of s.
47	119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution; and a
48	voter's signature, social security number, and telephone number
49	may not be copied and is are exempt for that purpose from the
50	provisions of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
51	Constitution.
52	(3)  This section applies to information held by an agency
53	before, on, or after the effective date of this exemption.
54	Section 2.  Section 97.0585, Florida Statutes, as amended
55	by this act, is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act
56	of 1995 in accordance with section 119.15, Florida Statutes, and
57	shall stand repealed on October 2, 2010, unless reviewed and
58	saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
59	Section 3.  (1)  The Legislature recognizes that the Help
60	America Vote Act of 2002 requires the implementation of a new
61	single, uniform, centralized, interactive, and computerized
62	statewide voter registration system by January 1, 2006. The
63	Florida Voter Registration System (FVRS) will replace the
64	existing state's voter registration system. The FVRS will
65	interface with and integrate voter registration information and
66	records from the offices of the 67 county supervisors of
67	elections. The FVRS will contain the name and other registration
68	information of every legally registered voter in the state. The
69	FVRS will be the official list of registered voters in the state
70	and will be used as the registration system for federal and
71	state elections. Any such system must keep information
72	concerning a person's decision not to register or information
73	concerning the place where a person registers to vote
74	confidential in accordance with the National Voter Registration
75	Act. Therefore, the Legislature finds it necessary to continue
76	the existing public-records exemption to keep such information
77	confidential and exempt in order to conform with the
78	requirements of the National Voter Registration Act.
79	Additionally, because persons may register to vote or update
80	voter registration information at designated voter registration
81	agencies that may include any office that provides public
82	assistance, this exemption is also necessary to protect from
83	disclosure personal information concerning those persons who
84	apply for or receive public assistance at these offices.
85	(2)  The Legislature also finds it necessary to broaden the
86	existing exemption from public-records access to social security
87	numbers of voters and voter registration applicants to include
88	driver's license numbers and Florida identification numbers. The
89	Legislature finds that access to such information can lead to
90	fraud, personal identity theft, and invasion of privacy. The
91	Florida Voter Statewide Voter Registration System, once
92	implemented and maintained, will constitute one of the most
93	comprehensive and up-to-date databases of persons in this state.
94	The Legislature finds it not only necessary to exempt from
95	copying social security numbers, driver's license numbers, and
96	Florida identification numbers of those persons in the Florida
97	Voter Registration System but also to exempt those numbers from
98	inspection. Even the memorization of a single person's social
99	security number, driver's license number, or Florida
100	identification number could result in economic and personal harm
101	to that individual whose numbers may be used to perpetrate fraud
102	or may be coupled with other readily available public
103	information to commit personal identity theft or to gain access
104	to records, such as financial, educational, or medical records.
105	The Legislature also finds it necessary to keep the social
106	security numbers, driver's license numbers, and Florida
107	identification numbers in the Florida Voter Registration System
108	confidential and exempt in order to encourage voter registration
109	and remove disincentives to registering to vote.
110	(3)  The Legislature also finds it necessary to continue
111	and to expand the existing exemption that precludes the copying
112	of a voter's signature. Currently, a voter's signature is exempt
113	from copying but only if contained on a voter registration
114	application or precinct register. Two advisory opinions from the
115	Attorney General issued in 2001 stated that a voter's signature
116	on an absentee ballot certificate is not part of the voter
117	registration record and therefore not exempt from copying.
118	Because express exemption from copying did not exist for
119	absentee ballot certificates, any person or entity may request
120	and obtain copies of all signatures of voters who voted absentee
121	in any particular election. Consequently, any person or entity
122	may also request and obtain copies of all signatures of voters
123	who signed provisional ballot envelopes, early voting
124	certificates, or any other voting-related documents other than a
125	voter registration application or a precinct register. The
126	Legislature intends that a voter's signature be protected in
127	order to prevent fraud, identity theft, or invasion of privacy
128	in all instances. Nonetheless, the Legislature finds that any
129	exemption for such signatures must be balanced against the
130	continuing administrative need to allow for public inspection of
131	the signatures of voters or voter registration applicants for
132	purposes of voter verification, matching, or authenticity as may
133	occur in a voter's challenge or canvassing of an absentee
134	ballot. Therefore, the Legislature finds that it is a public
135	necessity to continue the existing exemption solely from copying
136	of voters' signatures and to expand that exemption to apply to
137	voters' signatures as may also appear on absentee ballot
138	certificate envelopes, provisional ballot envelopes, early-
139	voting certificates, or any other voting-related document that
140	must be executed for purposes of voting or voter registration.
141	Section 4.  This act shall take effect on the same date
142	that House Bill 1589 or similar legislation takes effect, if
143	such legislation is enacted in the same legislative session or
144	an extension thereof and becomes law.

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