| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to election reform; amending s. 100.011, |
| 3 | F.S.; providing a limitation on who may pay election |
| 4 | expenses; amending s. 102.112, F.S.; providing a procedure |
| 5 | for accepting amended county returns; creating s. 104.186, |
| 6 | F.S.; prohibiting payment or receipt of payment for |
| 7 | gathering initiative petition signatures; providing |
| 8 | penalties; providing an effective date. |
| 9 |
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| 10 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Section 1. Subsection (3) and paragraph (a) of subsection |
| 13 | (4) of section 100.011, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: |
| 14 | 100.011 Opening and closing of polls, all elections; |
| 15 | expenses.-- |
| 16 | (3) The expenses of holding all elections for county and |
| 17 | state offices necessarily incurred shall be paid out of the |
| 18 | treasury of the county or state, as the case may be, in the same |
| 19 | manner and by the same officers as in general elections. No |
| 20 | party other than the county or state may pay election expenses |
| 21 | as they apply under this subsection. |
| 22 | (4)(a) The provisions of any special law to the contrary |
| 23 | notwithstanding, the expenses of holding a special district or |
| 24 | community development district election, or the district's |
| 25 | proportionate share of regular election costs, as the case may |
| 26 | be, shall be paid out of the district's treasury and in the same |
| 27 | manner as in general elections. No party other than the district |
| 28 | may pay election expenses as they apply under this subsection. |
| 29 | This subsection applies to any district, whether created by or |
| 30 | pursuant to special or general law, which is a special district |
| 31 | as defined in s. 200.001(8)(c) or a community development |
| 32 | district as defined in s. 190.003(6). |
| 33 | Section 2. Subsection (5) is added to section 102.112, |
| 34 | Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 35 | 102.112 Deadline for submission of county returns to the |
| 36 | Department of State.-- |
| 37 | (5) If the county canvassing board reports a clerical |
| 38 | error to the department within 5 days after the certified date, |
| 39 | the department may accept the amended returns. |
| 40 | Section 3. Section 104.186, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 41 | to read: |
| 42 | 104.186 Payment for gathering initiative petition |
| 43 | signatures; penalty.--No person may pay another person to gather |
| 44 | signatures for an initiative petition. A person who gathers |
| 45 | signatures for an initiative petition must do so on a voluntary |
| 46 | basis only. Any violation of this section is a misdemeanor of |
| 47 | the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. |
| 48 | 775.083. |
| 49 | Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2005. |