| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the presidential preference primary; |
| 3 | amending s. 103.101, F.S.; revising the dates relating to |
| 4 | the presidential preference primary; providing an |
| 5 | effective date. |
| 6 |
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| 7 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 8 |
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| 9 | Section 1. Subsections (1), (2), (3), and (6) of section |
| 10 | 103.101, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: |
| 11 | 103.101 Presidential preference primary.-- |
| 12 | (1) Each political party other than a minor political |
| 13 | party shall, on the second last Tuesday in March January in each |
| 14 | year the number of which is a multiple of 4, elect one person to |
| 15 | be the candidate for nomination of such party for President of |
| 16 | the United States or select delegates to the national nominating |
| 17 | convention, as provided by party rule. |
| 18 | (2)(a) There shall be a Presidential Candidate Selection |
| 19 | Committee composed of the Secretary of State, who shall be a |
| 20 | nonvoting chair; the Speaker of the House of Representatives; |
| 21 | the President of the Senate; the minority leader of each house |
| 22 | of the Legislature; and the chair of each political party |
| 23 | required to have a presidential preference primary under this |
| 24 | section. |
| 25 | (b) By December October 31 of the year preceding the |
| 26 | Florida presidential preference primary, each political party |
| 27 | shall submit to the Secretary of State a list of its |
| 28 | presidential candidates to be placed on the presidential |
| 29 | preference primary ballot or candidates entitled to have |
| 30 | delegates appear on the presidential preference primary ballot. |
| 31 | The Secretary of State shall prepare and publish a list of the |
| 32 | names of the presidential candidates submitted. The Secretary of |
| 33 | State shall submit such list of names of presidential candidates |
| 34 | to the selection committee on the first Tuesday after the first |
| 35 | Monday in January each November of the year a preceding the |
| 36 | presidential preference primary election is held. Each person |
| 37 | designated as a presidential candidate shall have his or her |
| 38 | name appear, or have his or her delegates' names appear, on the |
| 39 | presidential preference primary ballot unless all committee |
| 40 | members of the same political party as the candidate agree to |
| 41 | delete such candidate's name from the ballot. |
| 42 | (c) The selection committee shall meet in Tallahassee on |
| 43 | the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January each |
| 44 | November of the year a preceding the presidential preference |
| 45 | primary is held. The selection committee shall publicly announce |
| 46 | and submit to the Department of State no later than 5 p.m. on |
| 47 | the following day the names of presidential candidates who shall |
| 48 | have their names appear, or who are entitled to have their |
| 49 | delegates' names appear, on the presidential preference primary |
| 50 | ballot. The Department of State shall immediately notify each |
| 51 | presidential candidate designated by the committee. Such |
| 52 | notification shall be in writing, by registered mail, with |
| 53 | return receipt requested. |
| 54 | (3) A candidate's name shall be printed on the |
| 55 | presidential preference primary ballot unless the candidate |
| 56 | submits to the Department of State, prior to the second Tuesday |
| 57 | after the first Monday in January November of the year preceding |
| 58 | the presidential preference primary, an affidavit stating that |
| 59 | he or she is not now, and does not presently intend to become, a |
| 60 | candidate for President at the upcoming nominating convention. |
| 61 | If a candidate withdraws pursuant to this subsection, the |
| 62 | Department of State shall notify the state executive committee |
| 63 | that the candidate's name will not be placed on the ballot. The |
| 64 | Department of State shall, no later than the third Tuesday after |
| 65 | the first Monday in January November of the year preceding the |
| 66 | presidential preference primary, certify to each supervisor of |
| 67 | elections the name of each candidate for political party |
| 68 | nomination to be printed on the ballot. |
| 69 | (6) Delegates must qualify no later than the second Friday |
| 70 | in January November of the year preceding the presidential |
| 71 | preference primary in the manner provided by party rule. |
| 72 | Section 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2010. |