Florida Senate - 2022 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. PCS (502578) for SB 524
Ì222336ÂÎ222336
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: UNFAV .
02/02/2022 .
.
.
.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
The Committee on Ethics and Elections (Taddeo) recommended the
following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Between lines 175 and 176
4 insert:
5 Section 4. Effective January 1, 2024, section 97.057,
6 Florida Statutes, as amended by section 3 of this act, is
7 amended to read:
8 97.057 Voter registration by the Department of Highway
9 Safety and Motor Vehicles.—
10 (1) Each of the following serves as an application The
11 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall provide
12 the opportunity to register to vote or to update a voter
13 registration record when submitted to the Department of Highway
14 Safety and Motor Vehicles to each individual who comes to an
15 office of that department to:
16 (a) An application Apply for a driver license or a renewal
17 of renew a driver license;
18 (b) An application Apply for an identification card
19 pursuant to chapter 322 or a renewal of renew an identification
20 card pursuant to chapter 322; or
21 (c) An application for a change of an address on an
22 existing driver license or identification card.
23
24 Unless the applicant declines to register to vote, he or she is
25 deemed to have consented to the use of the signature from his or
26 her driver license or identification card application for voter
27 registration purposes.
28 (2) An application for a driver license or an
29 identification card must include a voter registration component.
30 The voter registration component must be approved by the
31 Department of State. The voter registration component of a
32 driver license or identification card application must contain
33 all of the following:
34 (a) The minimum amount of information necessary to prevent
35 duplicate voter registrations and preserve the ability of the
36 department and supervisors of elections to assess the
37 eligibility of the applicant and administer voter registration
38 and other provisions of this code.
39 (b) A statement setting forth voting eligibility
40 requirements.
41 (c) An explanation that the applicant is consenting to the
42 use of his or her signature from the applicant’s driver license
43 or identification card application for voter registration
44 purposes. By consenting to the use of his or her signature, the
45 applicant is deemed to have subscribed to the oath required by
46 s. 3, Art. VI of the State Constitution and s. 97.051 and to
47 have sworn and affirmed that the voter registration information
48 contained in the application is true under penalty for false
49 swearing pursuant to s. 104.011.
50 (d) An option that allows the applicant to choose or update
51 a party affiliation; otherwise, an applicant who is initially
52 registering to vote and does not exercise such option shall be
53 registered without party affiliation in accordance with s.
54 97.053(5)(b).
55 (e) An option that allows the applicant to decline to
56 register to vote. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor
57 Vehicles shall note any such declination in its records and
58 forward the declination to the Department of State. Any
59 declination may be used only for voter registration purposes and
60 is confidential and exempt from public records requirements as
61 provided in s. 97.0585.
62 (3) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
63 shall:
64 (a) Develop a voter registration component for applications
65 which meets the requirements set forth in subsection (2) Notify
66 each individual, orally or in writing, that:
67 1. Information gathered for the completion of a driver
68 license or identification card application, renewal, or change
69 of address can be automatically transferred to a voter
70 registration application;
71 2. If additional information and a signature are provided,
72 the voter registration application will be completed and sent to
73 the proper election authority;
74 3. Information provided can also be used to update a voter
75 registration record;
76 4. All declinations will remain confidential and may be
77 used only for voter registration purposes; and
78 5. The particular driver license office in which the person
79 applies to register to vote or updates a voter registration
80 record will remain confidential and may be used only for voter
81 registration purposes.
82 (b) Require a driver license examiner to inquire orally or,
83 if the applicant is hearing impaired, inquire in writing whether
84 the applicant wishes to register to vote or update a voter
85 registration record during the completion of a driver license or
86 identification card application, renewal, or change of address.
87 1. If the applicant chooses to register to vote or to
88 update a voter registration record:
89 a. All applicable information received by the Department of
90 Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in the course of filling out
91 the forms necessary under subsection (1) must be transferred to
92 a voter registration application.
93 b. The additional necessary information must be obtained by
94 the driver license examiner and must not duplicate any
95 information already obtained while completing the forms required
96 under subsection (1).
97 c. A voter registration application with all of the
98 applicant’s voter registration information required to establish
99 the applicant’s eligibility pursuant to s. 97.041 must be
100 presented to the applicant to review and verify the voter
101 registration information received and provide an electronic
102 signature affirming the accuracy of the information provided.
103 2. If the applicant declines to register to vote, update
104 the applicant’s voter registration record, or change the
105 applicant’s address by either orally declining or by failing to
106 sign the voter registration application, the Department of
107 Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles must note such declination on
108 its records and shall forward the declination to the statewide
109 voter registration system.
110 (3) For the purpose of this section, the Department of
111 Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, with the approval of the
112 Department of State, shall prescribe:
113 (a) A voter registration application that is the same in
114 content, format, and size as the uniform statewide voter
115 registration application prescribed under s. 97.052; and
116 (b) A form that will inform applicants under subsection (1)
117 of the information contained in paragraph (2)(a).
118 (4) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
119 must Electronically transmit the voter registration component of
120 an applicant’s driver license or identification card application
121 to the Department of State completed voter registration
122 applications within 24 hours after receipt to the statewide
123 voter registration system. Upon receipt of the voter
124 registration component, the Department of State shall provide
125 the information to the supervisor of the county in which the
126 applicant is registering Completed paper voter registration
127 applications received by the Department of Highway Safety and
128 Motor Vehicles shall be forwarded within 5 days after receipt to
129 the supervisor of the county where the office that processed or
130 received that application is located.
131 (5) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
132 must send, with each driver license renewal extension
133 application authorized pursuant to s. 322.18(8), a uniform
134 statewide voter registration application, the voter registration
135 application prescribed under paragraph (3)(a), or a voter
136 registration application developed especially for the purposes
137 of this subsection by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
138 Vehicles, with the approval of the Department of State, which
139 must meet the requirements of s. 97.052.
140 (4)(6) A person providing voter registration services for a
141 driver license office may not:
142 (a) Seek to influence an applicant’s political preference
143 or party registration;
144 (b) Display any political preference or party allegiance;
145 (c) Make any statement to an applicant or take any action
146 the purpose or effect of which is to discourage the applicant
147 from registering to vote; or
148 (d) Disclose any applicant’s voter registration information
149 except as needed for the administration of voter registration.
150 (5)(7) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
151 shall collect data determined necessary by the Department of
152 State for program evaluation and reporting to the Election
153 Assistance Commission pursuant to federal law.
154 (6)(8) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
155 shall must ensure that all voter registration services provided
156 by driver license offices are in compliance with the Voting
157 Rights Act of 1965.
158 (7)(9) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
159 shall retain complete records of voter registration information
160 received, processed, and submitted to the Department of State
161 statewide voter registration system by the Department of Highway
162 Safety and Motor Vehicles. The maintenance of such These records
163 is shall be for the explicit purpose of supporting audit and
164 accounting controls established to ensure accurate and complete
165 electronic transmission of records between the Department of
166 State statewide voter registration system and the Department of
167 Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
168 (8)(10) The Department of State shall provide the
169 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles with an
170 electronic database of street addresses valid for use as the
171 address of legal residence as required in s. 97.053(5). The
172 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall compare
173 the address provided by the applicant against the database of
174 valid street addresses. If the address provided by the applicant
175 does not match a valid street address in the database, the
176 applicant will be asked to verify the address provided. The
177 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles may shall not
178 reject any application for voter registration for which a valid
179 match cannot be made.
180 (9)(11) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
181 shall enter into an agreement with the Department of State to
182 match information in the statewide voter registration system
183 with information in the database of the Department of Highway
184 Safety and Motor Vehicles to the extent required to verify the
185 accuracy of the driver license number, Florida identification
186 number, or last four digits of the social security number
187 provided on applications for voter registration as required in
188 s. 97.053.
189 (10)(12) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor
190 Vehicles shall enter into an agreement with the Commissioner of
191 Social Security as required by the Help America Vote Act of 2002
192 to verify the last four digits of the social security number
193 provided in applications for voter registration as required in
194 s. 97.053.
195 (11)(13) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor
196 Vehicles must assist the Department of State in regularly
197 identifying changes in residence address on the driver license
198 or identification card of a voter. The Department of State must
199 report each such change to the appropriate supervisor of
200 elections who must change the voter’s registration records in
201 accordance with s. 98.065(5).
202 Section 5. Effective January 1, 2024, paragraph (b) of
203 subsection (4) of section 98.045, Florida Statutes, is amended
204 to read:
205 98.045 Administration of voter registration.—
206 (4) STATEWIDE ELECTRONIC DATABASE OF VALID RESIDENTIAL
207 STREET ADDRESSES.—
208 (b) The department shall make the statewide database of
209 valid street addresses available to the Department of Highway
210 Safety and Motor Vehicles as provided in s. 97.057(8) s.
211 97.057(10). The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
212 shall use the database for purposes of validating the legal
213 residential addresses provided in voter registration
214 applications received by the Department of Highway Safety and
215 Motor Vehicles.
216
217 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
218 And the title is amended as follows:
219 Delete line 13
220 and insert:
221 F.S.; conforming a cross-reference; revising
222 procedures governing voter registration by the
223 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles;
224 providing that driver license or identification card
225 applications, driver license or identification card
226 renewal applications, and applications for changes of
227 address for existing driver licenses or identification
228 cards submitted to the department serve as voter
229 registration applications; specifying that an
230 applicant is deemed to have consented to the use of
231 his or her signature for voter registration purposes,
232 unless a declination is made; requiring specified
233 applications to include a voter registration
234 component, subject to approval by the Department of
235 State; specifying requirements for the voter
236 registration component; providing for the transmittal
237 of voter registration information to the Department of
238 State and supervisors of elections; amending s.
239 98.045, F.S.; conforming a cross-reference; amending
240 s.