Senate Bill sb0496c1
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Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 496
By the Committee on Ethics and Elections; and Senator Hill
582-2159-05
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to voter intimidation; creating
3 s. 104.0615, F.S.; providing a short title;
4 prohibiting a person from using or threatening
5 to use force, violence, or intimidation to
6 induce or compel an individual to vote or
7 refrain from voting, to refrain from
8 registering to vote, or to refrain from acting
9 as an election official or poll watcher;
10 prohibiting a person from knowingly using false
11 information to challenge an individual's right
12 to vote, to induce an individual to refrain
13 from registering to vote, or to induce or
14 attempt to induce an individual to refrain from
15 acting as an election official or poll watcher;
16 prohibiting a person from knowingly destroying,
17 mutilating, or defacing a voter registration
18 form or election ballot or obstructing or
19 delaying the delivery of a voter registration
20 form or election ballot; providing criminal
21 penalties; providing an effective date.
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23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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25 Section 1. Section 104.0615, Florida Statutes, is
26 created to read:
27 104.0615 Voter intimidation or suppression prohibited;
28 criminal penalties.--
29 (1) This section shall be cited as the "Voter
30 Protection Act."
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 496
582-2159-05
1 (2) A person may not directly or indirectly use or
2 threaten to use force, violence, or intimidation or any tactic
3 of coercion or intimidation to induce or compel an individual
4 to:
5 (a) Vote or refrain from voting;
6 (b) Vote or refrain from voting for any particular
7 individual or ballot measure;
8 (c) Refrain from registering to vote; or
9 (d) Refrain from acting as a legally authorized
10 election official or poll watcher.
11 (3) A person may not knowingly use false information
12 to:
13 (a) Challenge an individual's right to vote;
14 (b) Induce or attempt to induce an individual to
15 refrain from voting or registering to vote; or
16 (c) Induce or attempt to induce an individual to
17 refrain from acting as a legally authorized election official
18 or poll watcher.
19 (4) A person may not knowingly destroy, mutilate, or
20 deface a voter registration form or election ballot or
21 obstruct or delay the delivery of a voter registration form or
22 election ballot.
23 (5) A person who violates subsection (2), subsection
24 (3), or subsection (4) commits a felony of the third degree,
25 punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s.
26 775.084.
27 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.
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Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 496
582-2159-05
1 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
2 Senate Bill 496
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4 The Committee Substitute deletes references to second degree
felonies, and makes a violation of any subsection of the act a
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