| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to congressional vacancies; amending s. |
| 3 | 100.101, F.S.; providing that a special election or |
| 4 | special primary election shall be held to fill a vacancy |
| 5 | in the office of a member from Florida of the United |
| 6 | States Senate; amending s. 100.111, F.S.; providing that |
| 7 | the Governor is not required to call a special election to |
| 8 | fill a vacancy in the office of a member from Florida of |
| 9 | the United States Senate if a session of Congress is not |
| 10 | scheduled during the unexpired portion of the term; |
| 11 | repealing s. 100.161, F.S., relating to filling vacancies |
| 12 | in the representation of Florida in the United States |
| 13 | Senate; providing an effective date. |
| 14 |
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| 15 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 16 |
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| 17 | Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 100.101, Florida |
| 18 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 19 | 100.101 Special elections and special primary |
| 20 | elections.--Except as provided in s. 100.111(2), a special |
| 21 | election or special primary election shall be held in the |
| 22 | following cases: |
| 23 | (4) If a vacancy occurs in the office of a member from |
| 24 | Florida of the Senate or House of Representatives of Congress. |
| 25 | Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 100.111, Florida |
| 26 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 27 | 100.111 Filling vacancy.-- |
| 28 | (3) Whenever there is a vacancy for which a special |
| 29 | election is required pursuant to s. 100.101, the Governor, after |
| 30 | consultation with the Secretary of State, shall fix the dates of |
| 31 | a special primary election and a special election. Nominees of |
| 32 | political parties shall be chosen under the primary laws of this |
| 33 | state in the special primary election to become candidates in |
| 34 | the special election. Prior to setting the special election |
| 35 | dates, the Governor shall consider any upcoming elections in the |
| 36 | jurisdiction where the special election will be held. The dates |
| 37 | fixed by the Governor shall be specific days certain and shall |
| 38 | not be established by the happening of a condition or stated in |
| 39 | the alternative. The dates fixed shall provide a minimum of 2 |
| 40 | weeks between each election. In the event a vacancy occurs in |
| 41 | the office of state senator or member of the House of |
| 42 | Representatives when the Legislature is in regular legislative |
| 43 | session, the minimum times prescribed by this subsection may be |
| 44 | waived upon concurrence of the Governor, the Speaker of the |
| 45 | House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate. If a |
| 46 | vacancy occurs in the office of state senator and no session of |
| 47 | the Legislature is scheduled to be held prior to the next |
| 48 | general election, the Governor may fix the dates for the special |
| 49 | primary election and for the special election to coincide with |
| 50 | the dates of the primary election and general election. If a |
| 51 | vacancy in office occurs in any district in the state Senate or |
| 52 | House of Representatives, in the representation of this state in |
| 53 | the Senate of the United States, or in any congressional |
| 54 | district, and no session of the Legislature, or session of |
| 55 | Congress, as applicable if the vacancy is in a congressional |
| 56 | district, is scheduled to be held during the unexpired portion |
| 57 | of the term, the Governor is not required to call a special |
| 58 | election to fill such vacancy. |
| 59 | (a) The dates for candidates to qualify in such special |
| 60 | election or special primary election shall be fixed by the |
| 61 | Department of State, and candidates shall qualify not later than |
| 62 | noon of the last day so fixed. The dates fixed for qualifying |
| 63 | shall allow a minimum of 14 days between the last day of |
| 64 | qualifying and the special primary election. |
| 65 | (b) The filing of campaign expense statements by |
| 66 | candidates in such special elections or special primaries and by |
| 67 | committees making contributions or expenditures to influence the |
| 68 | results of such special primaries or special elections shall be |
| 69 | not later than such dates as shall be fixed by the Department of |
| 70 | State, and in fixing such dates the Department of State shall |
| 71 | take into consideration and be governed by the practical time |
| 72 | limitations. |
| 73 | (c) The dates for a candidate to qualify by the petition |
| 74 | process pursuant to s. 99.095 in such special primary or special |
| 75 | election shall be fixed by the Department of State. In fixing |
| 76 | such dates the Department of State shall take into consideration |
| 77 | and be governed by the practical time limitations. Any candidate |
| 78 | seeking to qualify by the petition process in a special primary |
| 79 | election shall obtain 25 percent of the signatures required by |
| 80 | s. 99.095. |
| 81 | (d) The qualifying fees and party assessments of such |
| 82 | candidates as may qualify shall be the same as collected for the |
| 83 | same office at the last previous primary for that office. The |
| 84 | party assessment shall be paid to the appropriate executive |
| 85 | committee of the political party to which the candidate belongs. |
| 86 | (e) Each county canvassing board shall make as speedy a |
| 87 | return of the result of such special primary elections and |
| 88 | special elections as time will permit, and the Elections |
| 89 | Canvassing Commission likewise shall make as speedy a canvass |
| 90 | and declaration of the nominees as time will permit. |
| 91 | Section 3. Section 100.161, Florida Statutes, is repealed. |
| 92 | Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010. |