HB 1591

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

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