Florida Senate - 2010 SB 1672 By Senator Crist 12-01069A-10 20101672__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to political advertisements; providing 3 a short title; amending s. 106.143, F.S.; providing an 4 alternative statement that may be used to identify a 5 candidate as the sponsor of a political advertisement 6 under certain circumstances; providing circumstances 7 under which certain campaign messages and political 8 advertisements are not required to state or display 9 specific information regarding the identity of the 10 candidate, his or her party affiliation, and the 11 office sought in the message or advertisement; 12 providing an effective date. 13 14 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 15 16 Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Technology in 17 Elections Act.” 18 Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 106.143, Florida 19 Statutes, is amended to read: 20 106.143 Political advertisements circulated prior to 21 election; requirements.— 22 (1)(a) Any political advertisement that is paid for by a 23 candidate and that is published, displayed, or circulated prior 24 to, or on the day of, any election must prominently state: 25 1. “Political advertisement paid for and approved by 26 ...(name of candidate)..., ...(party affiliation)..., for 27 ...(office sought)....”; or 28 2. “Paid by ...(name of candidate)..., ...(party 29 affiliation)..., for ...(office sought)....” 30 (b) Any other political advertisement published, displayed, 31 or circulated prior to, or on the day of, any election must 32 prominently: 33 1. Be marked “paid political advertisement” or with the 34 abbreviation “pd. pol. adv.” 35 2. State the name and address of the persons sponsoring the 36 advertisement. 37 3.a.(I) State whether the advertisement and the cost of 38 production is paid for or provided in kind by or at the expense 39 of the entity publishing, displaying, broadcasting, or 40 circulating the political advertisement; or 41 (II) State who provided or paid for the advertisement and 42 cost of production, if different from the source of sponsorship. 43 b. This subparagraph does not apply if the source of the 44 sponsorship is patently clear from the content or format of the 45 political advertisement. 46 (c) Any political advertisement made pursuant to s. 47 106.021(3)(d) must be marked “paid political advertisement” or 48 with the abbreviation “pd. pol. adv.” and must prominently 49 state, “Paid for and sponsored by ...(name of person paying for 50 political advertisement).... Approved by ...(names of persons, 51 party affiliation, and offices sought in the political 52 advertisement)....” 53 (d) This subsection does not apply to any campaign message 54 or political advertisementmessagesused by a candidate and the 55 candidate’s supporters or by a political committee if the 56 message or advertisement is:those messages are57 1. Designed to be worn by a person. 58 2. Placed as a paid link on an Internet website, provided 59 the message or advertisement is no more than 200 characters in 60 length and the link directs the user to another Internet website 61 that complies with paragraph (a), paragraph (b), or paragraph 62 (c). 63 3. Placed as a graphic or picture link on an Internet 64 website that directs the user to another Internet website that 65 complies with the requirements of this section; however, the 66 link must contain the disclaimer required in paragraph (a), 67 paragraph (b), or paragraph (c), which shall make up at least 5 68 percent of the total graphic or picture and may not otherwise be 69 illegible or concealed. 70 4. Placed at no cost on an Internet website for which there 71 is no cost to post content for public users. 72 5. Placed or distributed on an unpaid profile or account 73 which is available to the public without charge or on a social 74 networking Internet website, as long as the source of the 75 message or advertisement is patently clear from the content or 76 format of the message or advertisement. 77 6. Distributed as a text message or other message via Short 78 Message Service, provided the message is no more than 200 79 characters in length or requires the recipient to sign up or opt 80 in to receive it. 81 7. Connected with or included in any software application 82 or accompanying function, provided that the user signs up, opts 83 in, downloads, or otherwise accesses the application from or 84 through a website that complies with paragraph (a), paragraph 85 (b), or paragraph (c). 86 8. Sent by a third-party user from or through a campaign or 87 committee’s website, provided the website complies with 88 paragraph (a), paragraph (b), or paragraph (c). 89 9. Contained in or distributed through any other 90 technology-related item, service, or device for which compliance 91 with paragraph (a), paragraph (b), or paragraph (c) is not 92 reasonably practical due to the size or nature of such item, 93 service, or device as available, or the means of displaying the 94 message or advertisement makes compliance with paragraph (a), 95 paragraph (b), or paragraph (c) impracticable. 96 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.