Florida Senate - 2017                      CS for CS for SB 1072
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Governmental Oversight and Accountability;
       and Ethics and Elections; and Senator Hutson
       
       
       
       
       585-03991-17                                          20171072c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records; amending s. 98.075,
    3         F.S.; creating a public records exemption for certain
    4         information received by the Department of State from
    5         another state, through an interstate agreement or a
    6         membership in a nongovernmental entity whose
    7         membership is solely composed of state government
    8         election officials for the sole purpose of sharing and
    9         exchanging information in order to verify voter
   10         registration information, which is confidential or
   11         exempt pursuant to the laws of that state; providing
   12         for future legislative review and repeal of the
   13         exemption; providing a statement of public necessity;
   14         providing a contingent effective date.
   15          
   16  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   17  
   18         Section 1. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (2) of
   19  section 98.075, Florida Statutes, as amended by CS/SB 1070,
   20  enacted in the 2017 Regular Session, to read:
   21         98.075 Registration records maintenance activities;
   22  ineligibility determinations.—
   23         (2) DUPLICATE REGISTRATION.—
   24         (c) Information received by the department from another
   25  state, through an interstate agreement or a membership in a
   26  nongovernmental entity that is solely composed of state
   27  government election officials for the sole purpose of sharing
   28  and exchanging information in order to verify voter registration
   29  information, which is confidential or exempt pursuant to the
   30  laws of that state, is exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a),
   31  Art. I of the State Constitution. This paragraph is subject to
   32  the Open Government Sunset Review Act in accordance with s.
   33  119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2022, unless
   34  reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the
   35  Legislature.
   36         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   37  necessity that information received by the Department of State
   38  from another state through an interstate agreement entered into
   39  under s. 98.075(2), Florida Statutes, or through a membership in
   40  a nongovernmental entity that is solely composed of state
   41  government election officials for the sole purpose of sharing
   42  and exchanging information in order to verify voter registration
   43  information, which is confidential or exempt pursuant to the
   44  laws of that state be made exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida
   45  Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution.
   46  Participating in interstate agreements or nongovernmental
   47  entities to share and exchange information with other states in
   48  order to verify voter registration information is critical to
   49  ensuring the accuracy of the statewide voter registration
   50  system. Maintaining an accurate statewide voter registration
   51  system is critical to fair elections in this state. Without the
   52  public records exemption, the department will be unable to
   53  receive information from other states which might otherwise be
   54  confidential or exempt pursuant to the laws of those states,
   55  which would impair the ability of the department and supervisors
   56  of elections to maintain accurate voter rolls. As a result, the
   57  effective and efficient administration of the statewide voter
   58  registration system would be hindered.
   59         Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that
   60  CS/SB 1070 or similar legislation takes effect, if such
   61  legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an
   62  extension thereof and becomes a law.