Florida Senate - 2016                                    SB 1684
       
       
        
       By Senator Sachs
       
       34-01579A-16                                          20161684__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2  
    3          Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:Section 1. Section 101.622, Florida Statutes, is created to read:101.622Election alert system.—(1)The supervisor of elections shall establish an election alert system consistent with this section.(2)The supervisor of elections shall, on the supervisor’s Internet website or on the elector’s voter registration form, provide an elector with the ability to receive alerts.(3)The alert system must provide electors with a text message or an e-mail notification informing the elector that voting has begun. The message or e-mail must be sent by 11 a.m. on the first day of early voting and on election day, and it must provide a link to precinct polling places and the hours the precinct polling places are open.Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 101.64, Florida Statutes, is amended, and subsection (5) is added to that section, to read:101.64 Delivery of absentee ballots; envelopes; form.—(1) The supervisor shall enclose with each absentee ballot two envelopes: a secrecy envelope, into which the absent elector shall enclose his or her marked ballot; and a mailing envelope with a postage prepaid, preaddressed return envelope, into which the absent elector shall then place the secrecy envelope, which shall be addressed to the supervisor and also bear on the back side a certificate in substantially the following form:Note: Please Read Instructions Carefully BeforeMarking Ballot and Completing Voter’s Certificate.VOTER’S CERTIFICATEI, ...., do solemnly swear or affirm that I am a qualified and registered voter of .... County, Florida, and that I have not and will not vote more than one ballot in this election. I understand that if I commit or attempt to commit any fraud in connection with voting, vote a fraudulent ballot, or vote more than once in an election, I can be convicted of a felony of the third degree and fined up to $5,000 and/or imprisoned for up to 5 years. I also understand that failure to sign this certificate will invalidate my ballot....(Date)...	...(Voter’s Signature)...(5)Costs related to the postage prepaid, preaddressed return envelope in subsection (1) shall be reimbursed to each county by the Division of Elections upon request by the supervisor of elections.Section 3. Section 101.69, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:101.69 Voting in person; return of absentee ballot.—The provisions of this code shall not be construed to prohibit any elector from voting in person at the elector’s precinct on the day of an election or at an early voting site, notwithstanding that the elector has requested an absentee ballot for that election. An elector who has returned a voted absentee ballot to the supervisor, however, is deemed to have cast his or her ballot and is not entitled to vote another ballot or to have a provisional ballot counted by the county canvassing board. An elector who has received an absentee ballot and has not returned the voted ballot to the supervisor, but desires to vote in person, may shall return the voted ballot, whether voted or not, to the election board in the elector’s precinct or to an early voting site. The Department of State shall, by rule, allow the elector to return an absentee ballot by hand delivery to the elector’s polling place on election day and allow the elector to deposit the absentee ballot directly into the voting system The returned ballot shall be marked “canceled” by the board and placed with other canceled ballots. However, if the elector does not return the ballot and the election official:(1) Confirms that the supervisor has received the elector’s absentee ballot, the elector shall not be allowed to vote in person. If the elector maintains that he or she has not returned the absentee ballot or remains eligible to vote, the elector shall be provided a provisional ballot as provided in s. 101.048.(2) Confirms that the supervisor has not received the elector’s absentee ballot, the elector shall be allowed to vote in person as provided in this code. The elector’s absentee ballot, if subsequently received, shall not be counted and shall remain in the mailing envelope, and the envelope shall be marked “Rejected as Illegal.”(3) Cannot determine whether the supervisor has received the elector’s absentee ballot, the elector may vote a provisional ballot as provided in s. 101.048.Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.