Florida Senate - 2007 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1174
Barcode 681958
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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11 The Committee on Ethics and Elections (Jones) recommended the
12 following amendment:
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14 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
15 Delete everything after the enacting clause
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17 and insert:
18 Section 1. Section 101.5603, Florida Statutes, is
19 amended to read:
20 101.5603 Definitions relating to Electronic Voting
21 Systems Act.--As used in this act, the term:
22 (1) "Audit data" for a touchscreen voting device
23 consists of time-stamped recorded information that documents
24 the activities that occurred on the voting device in order to
25 verify or reconstruct the events without compromising the
26 ballot or voter secrecy. The audit data also includes the
27 electronic record of the random sequence of ballots cast by
28 voters who used that voting device.
29 (2)(1) "Automatic tabulating equipment" includes
30 apparatus necessary to automatically examine, count, and
31 record votes.
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1 (3)(2) "Ballot" means the card, tape, or other media
2 vehicle upon which the elector's choices are recorded.
3 (4)(3) "Ballot information" means the material
4 containing the names of offices and candidates and the
5 questions to be voted on.
6 (5) "Direct recording electronic voting method" means
7 an electronic voting method that uses electronic components
8 for the functions of ballot presentation, vote selection, vote
9 capture, vote recording, and tabulation which are logically
10 and physically integrated into a single unit. The unit may
11 include peripheral equipment such as a printer for zero and
12 results tapes and headphones. A direct recording electronic
13 voting method produces a tabulation of the voting data stored
14 in a removable memory component and in printed hard copy.
15 (6)(4) "Electronic or electromechanical voting system"
16 means a system of casting votes by use of voting devices or
17 marking devices and counting ballots by employing automatic
18 tabulating equipment or data processing equipment, and the
19 term includes touchscreen systems.
20 (7)(5) "Marking device" means any approved device for
21 marking a ballot with ink or other substance, including, but
22 not limited to, a pen, pencil, marker, or other device, which
23 will enable the ballot to be tabulated by means of automatic
24 tabulating equipment.
25 (8)(6) "Secrecy envelope" means an opaque device, used
26 for enclosing a marked ballot, which conceals the voter's
27 choices.
28 (9)(7) "Software" means the programs and routines used
29 to employ and control the capabilities of data processing
30 hardware, including, without limitation, operating systems,
31 compilers, assemblers, utilities, library routines,
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1 maintenance routines, applications, and computer networking
2 programs.
3 (10) "Voter-verifiable paper audit record" means the
4 individual permanent paper record produced by a direct
5 recording electronic voting method which records each
6 selection on the ballot and allows the voter to confirm his or
7 her selections before the ballot is cast.
8 (11)(8) "Voting device" means an apparatus by which
9 votes are registered electronically.
10 Section 2. Section 101.5606, Florida Statutes, is
11 amended to read:
12 101.5606 Requirements for approval of systems.--An No
13 electronic or electromechanical voting system shall not be
14 approved by the Department of State unless it is so
15 constructed that:
16 (1) It permits and requires voting in secrecy.
17 (2) It permits each elector to vote at any election
18 for all persons and offices for whom and for which the elector
19 is lawfully entitled to vote, and no others; to vote for as
20 many persons for an office as the elector is entitled to vote
21 for; and to vote for or against any question upon which the
22 elector is entitled to vote.
23 (3) It immediately rejects a ballot when where the
24 number of votes for an office or measure exceeds the number
25 which the voter is entitled to cast or where the tabulating
26 equipment reads the ballot as a ballot with no votes cast.
27 (4) For systems using marksense ballots, it accepts a
28 rejected ballot pursuant to subsection (3) if a voter chooses
29 to cast the ballot, but records no vote for any office that
30 has been overvoted or undervoted.
31 (5) It is capable of correctly counting votes.
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1 (6) It permits each voter at a primary election to
2 vote only for the candidates seeking nomination by the
3 political party in which the such voter is registered, for any
4 candidate for nonpartisan office, and for any question upon
5 which the voter is entitled to vote.
6 (7) At presidential elections it permits each elector,
7 by one operation, to vote for all presidential electors of a
8 party or for all presidential electors of candidates for
9 President and Vice President with no party affiliation.
10 (8) It provides a method for write-in voting.
11 (9) It is capable of accumulating a count of the
12 specific number of ballots tallied for a precinct,
13 accumulating total votes by candidate for each office, and
14 accumulating total votes for and against each question and
15 issue of the ballots tallied for a precinct.
16 (10) It is capable of tallying votes from ballots of
17 different political parties from the same precinct, in the
18 case of a primary election.
19 (11) It is capable of automatically producing precinct
20 totals in printed or, marked, or punched form, or a
21 combination thereof.
22 (12) If it is of a type that presents a ballot and
23 records votes electronically, makes a paper record for each
24 vote cast available. The voter verifiable paper audit record
25 must be linked to individual ballot images that have a unique
26 ascending or descending identifier.
27 (13)(12) If it is of a type that records which
28 registers votes electronically, it will permit each voter to
29 change his or her vote for any candidate or upon any question
30 appearing on the official ballot up to the time that the voter
31 takes the final step to record register his or her vote and to
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1 have the vote counted computed.
2 (14)(13) It is capable of providing records from which
3 the operation of the voting system may be audited.
4 (15)(14) It uses a precinct-count tabulation system.
5 (16)(15) It does not use an apparatus or device for
6 the piercing of ballots by the voter.
7 (17) It provides standardized reporting of election
8 results as determined by the Department of State. The
9 Department of State shall adopt rules providing for reporting
10 election results.
11 Section 3. Section 101.56062, Florida Statutes, is
12 amended to read:
13 101.56062 Standards for accessible voting systems.--
14 (1) Notwithstanding anything in this chapter to the
15 contrary, each voting system certified by the Department of
16 State for use in local, state, and federal elections must
17 include the capability to install accessible voter interface
18 devices in the system configuration which will allow the
19 system to meet the following minimum standards:
20 (a) The voting system must provide a tactile input or
21 audio input device, or both.
22 (b) The voting system must provide a method by which
23 voters can confirm any tactile or audio input by having the
24 capability of audio output using synthetic or recorded human
25 speech that is reasonably phonetically accurate.
26 (c) Any operable controls on the input device which
27 are needed for voters who are visually impaired must be
28 discernible tactilely without actuating the keys.
29 (d) Audio and visual access approaches must be able to
30 work both separately and simultaneously.
31 (d)(e) If a nonaudio access approach is provided, the
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1 system may not require color perception. The system must use
2 black text or graphics, or both, on white background or white
3 text or graphics, or both, on black background, unless the
4 office of the Secretary of State approves other high-contrast
5 color combinations that do not require color perception.
6 (e)(f) Any voting system that requires any visual
7 perception must offer the election official who programs the
8 system, prior to its being sent to the polling place, the
9 capability to set the font size, as it appears to the voter,
10 from a minimum of 14 points to a maximum of 24 points.
11 (g) The voting system must provide audio information,
12 including any audio output using synthetic or recorded human
13 speech or any auditory feedback tones that are important for
14 the use of the audio approach, through at least one mode, by
15 handset or headset, in enhanced auditory fashion (increased
16 amplification), and must provide incremental volume control
17 with output amplification up to a level of at least 97 dB SPL.
18 (h) For transmitted voice signals to the voter, the
19 voting system must provide a gain adjustable up to a minimum
20 of 20 dB with at least one intermediate step of 12 dB of gain.
21 (i) For the safety of others, if the voting system has
22 the possibility of exceeding 120 dB SPL, then a mechanism must
23 be included to reset the volume automatically to the voting
24 system's default volume level after every use, for example
25 when the handset is replaced, but not before. Also, universal
26 precautions in the use and sharing of headsets should be
27 followed.
28 (f)(j) If sound cues and audible information such as
29 "beeps" are used, there must be simultaneous corresponding
30 visual cues and information.
31 (g)(k) Controls and operable mechanisms must be
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1 operable with one hand, including operability with a closed
2 fist, and operable without tight grasping, pinching, or
3 twisting of the wrist.
4 (h)(l) The force required to operate or activate the
5 controls must be no greater than 5 pounds of force.
6 (i)(m) Voting booths must have voting controls at a
7 minimum height of 36 inches above the finished floor with a
8 minimum knee clearance of 27 inches high, 30 inches wide, and
9 19 inches deep, or the accessible voter interface devices must
10 be designed so as to allow their use on top of a table to meet
11 these requirements. Tabletop installations must include
12 adequate privacy.
13 (j)(n) Any audio ballot must provide the voter with
14 the following functionalities:
15 1. After the initial instructions that the system
16 requires election officials to provide to each voter, the
17 voter should be able to independently operate the voter
18 interface through the final step of casting a ballot without
19 assistance.
20 2. The voter must be able to determine the races that
21 he or she is allowed to vote in and to determine which
22 candidates are available in each race.
23 3. The voter must be able to determine how many
24 candidates may be selected in each race.
25 4. The voter must be able to have confidence that the
26 physical or vocal inputs given to the system have selected the
27 candidates that he or she intended to select.
28 5. The voter must be able to review the candidate
29 selections that he or she has made.
30 6. Prior to the act of casting the ballot, the voter
31 must be able to change any selections previously made and
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1 confirm a new selection.
2 7. The system must communicate to the voter the fact
3 that the voter has failed to vote in a race or has failed to
4 vote the number of allowable candidates in any race and
5 require the voter to confirm his or her intent to undervote
6 before casting the ballot.
7 8. The system must prevent the voter from overvoting
8 any race.
9 9. The voter must be able to input a candidate's name
10 in each race that allows a write-in candidate.
11 10. The voter must be able to review his or her
12 write-in input to the interface, edit that input, and confirm
13 that the edits meet the voter's intent.
14 11. There must be a clear, identifiable action that
15 the voter takes to "cast" the ballot. The system must make
16 clear to the voter how to take this action so that the voter
17 has minimal risk of taking the action accidentally but, when
18 the voter intends to cast the ballot, the action can be easily
19 performed.
20 12. Once the ballot is cast, the system must confirm
21 to the voter that the action has occurred and that the voter's
22 process of voting is complete.
23 13. Once the ballot is cast, the system must preclude
24 the voter from modifying the ballot cast or voting or casting
25 another ballot.
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27 The functionalities required in this paragraph for
28 certification may be satisfied by either the voting device or
29 by the entire voting system.
30 (2) Such voting system must include at least one
31 accessible voter interface device installed in each polling
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1 place which meets the requirements of this section, except for
2 paragraph (1)(d).
3 (3) The Department of State may adopt rules in
4 accordance with s. 120.54 which are necessary to administer
5 this section.
6 Section 4. Effective July 1, 2008, section 101.56075,
7 Florida Statutes, is created to read:
8 101.56075 Voting methods.--
9 (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), all voting
10 at early voting sites and at polling places on election day
11 shall be by marksense ballot tabulated at the polling
12 location.
13 (2) In each polling place and early voting site, there
14 shall be at least one accessible voter interface device that
15 meets the requirements of s. 101.56062.
16 Section 5. Effective July 1, 2008, section 101.591,
17 Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
18 101.591 Voting system audit.--
19 (1) Immediately following each certification of
20 election, the supervisor of elections shall conduct a manual
21 audit in randomly selected precincts of the voting systems
22 used in the election as follows:
23 (a) The audit shall consist of a public manual tally
24 of the votes cast for the first statewide race or issue on
25 that ballot. If the election does not contain a statewide race
26 or issue, the audit shall consist of a public tally of the
27 first countywide, or in the instance of a municipal election,
28 the first municipal race or issue on that ballot. The tally
29 shall include election day, absentee, early voting,
30 provisional, and overseas ballots in 2 percent of the
31 precincts chosen at random by the county canvassing board or
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1 the local board responsible for certifying the election. If 2
2 percent of the precincts are less than one whole precinct, the
3 audit shall be conducted in one precinct chosen at random by
4 the county canvassing board or the local board responsible for
5 certifying the election. Such precincts shall be selected at a
6 publicly noticed meeting of the county canvassing board or the
7 local board responsible for certifying the election.
8 (b) When selecting precincts, the county canvassing
9 board or the local board responsible for certifying the
10 election shall choose additional precincts to provide
11 alternative precincts if there was a malfunction of a
12 voter-verifiable paper record for a precinct. In the course of
13 the audit, if the precinct being audited shows a malfunction
14 in the voter-verifiable paper audit record, the canvassing
15 board shall audit the next alternative precinct.
16 (c) The audit shall be conducted using the marksense
17 ballots and the voter-verifiable paper audit records of
18 ballots cast by means of direct-recording electronic voting.
19 (d) The supervisor of elections shall provide public
20 notice before the beginning of the audit by posting notice in
21 four conspicuous places in the county.
22 (e) The audit must be completed no later than the end
23 of the 9th day following certification of the election by the
24 county canvassing board.
25 (2) Within 15 days after completing the audit, the
26 supervisor of elections shall provide a report to the
27 department on the results of the audit of a county, state, or
28 federal election in a standard format as prescribed by the
29 department. An audit report for all other elections in the
30 county shall be maintained by the supervisor of elections.
31 (3) The department shall adopt rules to provide
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1 uniform procedures for conducting audits under this section.
2 (1) The Legislature, upon specific appropriation and
3 directive, may provide for an independent audit of the voting
4 system in any county. Within 30 days after completing the
5 audit, the person conducting the audit shall furnish a copy of
6 the audit to the supervisor of elections and the board of
7 county commissioners.
8 (2) An audit conducted pursuant to subsection (1)
9 shall consist of a study and evaluation of the voting system
10 used during any primary, general, municipal, or presidential
11 preference primary election to provide reasonable assurance
12 that the system is properly controlled, can accurately count
13 votes, provides adequate safeguards against unauthorized
14 manipulation and fraud, and complies with the requirements of
15 law and rules of the Department of State.
16 Section 6. Effective July 1, 2008, subsection (1) of
17 section 102.166, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
18 102.166 Manual recounts.--
19 (1) If the second set of unofficial returns pursuant
20 to s. 102.141 indicates that a candidate for any office was
21 defeated or eliminated by one-quarter of a percent or less of
22 the votes cast for such office, that a candidate for retention
23 to a judicial office was retained or not retained by
24 one-quarter of a percent or less of the votes cast on the
25 question of retention, or that a measure appearing on the
26 ballot was approved or rejected by one-quarter of a percent or
27 less of the votes cast on such measure, the board responsible
28 for certifying the results of the vote on such race or measure
29 shall order a manual recount of the overvotes and undervotes
30 cast in the entire geographic jurisdiction of such office or
31 ballot measure. A manual recount may not be ordered, however,
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1 if the number of overvotes, undervotes, and provisional
2 ballots is fewer than the number of votes needed to change the
3 outcome of the election. A manual recount of votes recorded on
4 a direct recording electronic voting method shall be conducted
5 using the voter-verifiable paper audit record. For those
6 machines equipped with a voter-verifiable paper audit record
7 for the purposes of s. 101.56075(2), the voter-verifiable
8 paper audit record shall be considered the official ballot for
9 the manual recount. If there is a malfunction involving the
10 voter-verifiable paper audit record, the supervisor of
11 elections shall generate audit data. The supervisor of
12 elections shall compare the audit data and the
13 voter-verifiable paper audit record to determine any
14 discrepancies. If there are discrepancies, the supervisor
15 shall use the audit data as the official record for those
16 discrepancies only.
17 Section 7. Subsection (35) of section 97.021, Florida
18 Statutes, is amended to read:
19 97.021 Definitions.--For the purposes of this code,
20 except where the context clearly indicates otherwise, the
21 term:
22 (35) "Tactile input device" means a device that
23 provides information to a voting system by means of a voter
24 touching the device, such as a keyboard, and that complies
25 with the requirements of s. 101.56026(1)(g) and (h) s.
26 101.56062(1)(k) and (l).
27 Section 8. The sum of $35,678,060 is appropriated from
28 the Grants and Donations Trust Fund to the Division of
29 Elections within the Department of State for the purpose of
30 implementing the provisions of this act.
31 Section 9. Except as otherwise expressly provided in
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1 this act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2007.
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4 ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ===============
5 And the title is amended as follows:
6 Delete everything before the enacting clause
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8 and insert:
9 A bill to be entitled
10 An act relating to electronic voting systems;
11 amending s. 101.5603, F.S.; providing
12 definitions relating to electronic voting
13 systems; amending s. 101.5606, F.S.; providing
14 additional capabilities that an electronic
15 voting system must possess before being
16 approved for use; amending s. 101.56062, F.S.;
17 revising standards for accessible voting
18 systems; creating s. 101.56075, F.S.; providing
19 requirements for voting methods at polling
20 places; amending s. 101.591, F.S.; revising
21 procedures for audits of voting machines;
22 amending s. 102.166, F.S.; revising methods for
23 manual recounts of ballots; amending s. 97.021,
24 F.S.; revising cross-references; providing an
25 appropriation; providing effective dates.
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