Florida Senate - 2011 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SPB 7220
Barcode 801988
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: FAV .
03/28/2011 .
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The Committee on Rules Subcommittee on Ethics and Elections
(Diaz de la Portilla) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 After line 179
4 insert:
5 Section 1. Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (2) of
6 section 99.095, Florida Statutes, to read:
7 99.095 Petition process in lieu of a qualifying fee and
8 party assessment.—
9 (2)
10 (d) In a year of apportionment, any candidate for county or
11 district office seeking ballot position by the petition process
12 may obtain the required number of signatures from any registered
13 voter in the respective county, regardless of district
14 boundaries. The candidate shall obtain at least the number of
15 signatures equal to 1 percent of the total number of registered
16 voters, as shown by a compilation by the department for the
17 immediately preceding general election, divided by the total
18 number of districts of the office involved.
19 Between lines 214 and 215
20 insert:
21 Section 3. Subsection (6) is added to section 101.591,
22 Florida Statutes, to read:
23 101.591 Voting system audit.—
24 (6) If a manual recount is undertaken pursuant to s.
25 102.166, the canvassing board is not required to perform the
26 audit provided for in this section.
27 Section 4. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and paragraph
28 (b) of subsection (4) of section 101.62, Florida Statutes, are
29 amended to read:
30 101.62 Request for absentee ballots.—
31 (1)(a) The supervisor shall accept a request for an
32 absentee ballot from an elector in person or in writing. One
33 request shall be deemed sufficient to receive an absentee ballot
34 for all elections through the end of the calendar year of the
35 next regularly scheduled general election, unless the elector or
36 the elector’s designee indicates at the time the request is made
37 the elections for which the elector desires to receive an
38 absentee ballot. Such request may be considered canceled when
39 any first-class mail sent by the supervisor to the elector is
40 returned as undeliverable.
41 (4)
42 (b) The supervisor shall provide an absentee ballot to each
43 elector by whom a request for that ballot has been made by one
44 of the following means:
45 1. By nonforwardable, return-if-undeliverable mail to the
46 elector’s current mailing address on file with the supervisor
47 or, unless the elector specifies in the request that:
48 a. The elector is absent from the county and does not plan
49 to return before the day of the election;
50 b. The elector is temporarily unable to occupy the
51 residence because of hurricane, tornado, flood, fire, or other
52 emergency or natural disaster; or
53 c. The elector is in a hospital, assisted living facility,
54 nursing home, short-term medical or rehabilitation facility, or
55 correctional facility,
56
57 in which case the supervisor shall mail the ballot by
58 nonforwardable, return-if-undeliverable mail to any other
59 address the elector specifies in the request.
60 2. By forwardable mail, e-mail, or facsimile machine
61 transmission to absent uniformed services voters and overseas
62 voters. The absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter
63 may designate in the absentee ballot request the preferred
64 method of transmission. If the voter does not designate the
65 method of transmission, the absentee ballot shall be mailed.
66 3. By personal delivery before 7 p.m. on election day to
67 the elector, upon presentation of the identification required in
68 s. 101.043.
69 4. By delivery to a designee on election day or up to 5
70 days prior to the day of an election. Any elector may designate
71 in writing a person to pick up the ballot for the elector;
72 however, the person designated may not pick up more than two
73 absentee ballots per election, other than the designee’s own
74 ballot, except that additional ballots may be picked up for
75 members of the designee’s immediate family. For purposes of this
76 section, “immediate family” means the designee’s spouse or the
77 parent, child, grandparent, or sibling of the designee or of the
78 designee’s spouse. The designee shall provide to the supervisor
79 the written authorization by the elector and a picture
80 identification of the designee and must complete an affidavit.
81 The designee shall state in the affidavit that the designee is
82 authorized by the elector to pick up that ballot and shall
83 indicate if the elector is a member of the designee’s immediate
84 family and, if so, the relationship. The department shall
85 prescribe the form of the affidavit. If the supervisor is
86 satisfied that the designee is authorized to pick up the ballot
87 and that the signature of the elector on the written
88 authorization matches the signature of the elector on file, the
89 supervisor shall give the ballot to that designee for delivery
90 to the elector.
91 Section 5. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
92 101.68, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
93 101.68 Canvassing of absentee ballot.—
94 (2)(a) The county canvassing board may begin the canvassing
95 of absentee ballots at 7 a.m. on the 15th sixth day before the
96 election, but not later than noon on the day following the
97 election. In addition, for any county using electronic
98 tabulating equipment, the processing of absentee ballots through
99 such tabulating equipment may begin at 7 a.m. on the 15th sixth
100 day before the election. However, notwithstanding any such
101 authorization to begin canvassing or otherwise processing
102 absentee ballots early, no result shall be released until after
103 the closing of the polls in that county on election day. Any
104 supervisor of elections, deputy supervisor of elections,
105 canvassing board member, election board member, or election
106 employee who releases the results of a canvassing or processing
107 of absentee ballots prior to the closing of the polls in that
108 county on election day commits a felony of the third degree,
109 punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
110
111 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
112 And the title is amended as follows:
113 Delete line 2
114 and insert:
115 An act relating to elections; amending s. 99.095,
116 F.S.; allowing a candidate to obtain the required
117 number of signatures from any registered voter
118 regardless of district boundaries in a year of
119 apportionment; amending s. 101.161,
120 Between lines 15 and 16
121 insert:
122 amending s. 101.591, F.S.; removing the audit
123 requirement by the canvassing board if a manual
124 recount is undertaken; amending s. 101.62, F.S.;
125 extending the time for requesting an absentee ballot
126 to the end of the calendar year of the next regularly
127 scheduled general election; removing requirements that
128 an elector provide certain information when requesting
129 an absentee ballot from the county supervisor of
130 elections; amending s. 101.68, F.S.; extending the
131 time for canvassing and processing absentee ballots to
132 15 days before the election;