Florida Senate - 2025 SB 982
By Senator Bernard
24-01115-25 2025982__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to candidate qualifying; amending s.
3 99.061, F.S.; authorizing a candidate to pay the
4 filing fee by a debit card linked to the candidate’s
5 campaign account; revising the timeframe during which
6 a candidate may pay a filing fee if the initial
7 payment is rejected by a bank; providing for standing
8 for challenges to a candidate’s qualification for
9 nomination or election to office; providing procedures
10 and requirements regarding such challenges; providing
11 for immediate hearings in such challenges, subject to
12 limitations; prohibiting a person from appearing on
13 the ballot under certain circumstances; amending s.
14 106.11, F.S.; revising conditions under which debit
15 cards are considered bank checks for purposes of
16 certain campaign expenditures; providing an effective
17 date.
18
19 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
20
21 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (7) of section
22 99.061, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (d) is added
23 to that subsection, to read:
24 99.061 Method of qualifying for nomination or election to
25 federal, state, county, or district office.—
26 (7)(a) In order for a candidate to be qualified, the
27 following items must be received by the filing officer by the
28 end of the qualifying period:
29 1. The filing fee A properly executed check drawn upon the
30 candidate’s campaign account payable to the person or entity as
31 prescribed by the filing officer in an amount not less than the
32 fee required by s. 99.092 by a properly executed check drawn
33 upon the candidate’s campaign account or by a debit card linked
34 to the candidate’s campaign account as provided in s. 106.11(2),
35 unless the candidate obtained the required number of signatures
36 on petitions pursuant to s. 99.095. The filing fee for a special
37 district candidate is not required to be drawn upon the
38 candidate’s campaign account. If a candidate’s payment is
39 rejected check is returned by the bank for any reason, the
40 filing officer must shall immediately notify the candidate and
41 the candidate must, irrespective of whether the qualifying
42 period has ended, have 48 hours from the time such notification
43 is received, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays,
44 shall have until the end of qualifying to pay the fee with a
45 cashier’s check purchased from funds of the campaign account.
46 Failure to pay the fee as provided in this subparagraph shall
47 disqualify the candidate.
48 2. The candidate’s oath required by s. 99.021, which must
49 contain the name of the candidate as it is to appear on the
50 ballot; the office sought, including the district or group
51 number if applicable; and the signature of the candidate, which
52 must be verified under oath or affirmation pursuant to s.
53 92.525(1)(a).
54 3. If the office sought is partisan, the written statement
55 of political party affiliation required by s. 99.021(1)(b); or
56 if the candidate is running without party affiliation for a
57 partisan office, the written statement required by s.
58 99.021(1)(c).
59 4. The completed form for the appointment of campaign
60 treasurer and designation of campaign depository, as required by
61 s. 106.021.
62 5. The full and public disclosure or statement of financial
63 interests required by subsection (5). A public officer who has
64 filed the full and public disclosure or statement of financial
65 interests with the Commission on Ethics before qualifying for
66 office may file a copy of that disclosure or a verification or
67 receipt of electronic filing as provided in subsection (5) at
68 the time of qualifying.
69 (d) A candidate for nomination or election to an office has
70 standing to challenge in circuit court whether another candidate
71 for the same office has complied with the requirements of this
72 subsection.
73 1. A complaint setting forth the grounds of the challenge
74 must be filed with the clerk of the circuit court within 10 days
75 after midnight of the end of the qualifying period.
76 2. The filing officer and any supervisor of elections
77 responsible for conducting the election are indispensable
78 parties to any such challenge.
79 3. A copy of the complaint must be served upon the
80 defendant and any other person named in the complaint in the
81 same manner as in other civil cases under state law. Within 10
82 days after the complaint has been served, a defendant must file
83 an answer admitting to or denying the allegations on which the
84 plaintiff relies or stating that the defendant has no knowledge
85 or information concerning the allegations, which must be deemed
86 a denial of the allegations, and must state any other defenses,
87 in law or fact, on which the defendant relies.
88 4. Any candidate presenting such a challenge is entitled to
89 an immediate hearing. However, the court may limit the time for
90 taking testimony in any such hearing, as appropriate based on
91 the circumstances of the matter and the proximity of the
92 succeeding election.
93 5. If an order of a court that has become final determines
94 that a person did not comply with this subsection, the person is
95 not qualified as a candidate for election, and his or her name
96 may not appear on the ballot.
97 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
98 106.11, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
99 106.11 Expenses of and expenditures by candidates and
100 political committees.—Each candidate and each political
101 committee which designates a primary campaign depository
102 pursuant to s. 106.021(1) shall make expenditures from funds on
103 deposit in such primary campaign depository only in the
104 following manner, with the exception of expenditures made from
105 petty cash funds provided by s. 106.12:
106 (2)(a) For purposes of this section, debit cards are
107 considered bank checks, if:
108 1. Debit cards are obtained from the same bank that has
109 been designated as the candidate’s or political committee’s
110 primary campaign depository.
111 2. Debit cards are issued in the name of the treasurer,
112 deputy treasurer, or authorized user and contain the name of the
113 campaign account of the candidate or political committee.
114 3. No more than three debit cards are requested and issued.
115 4. The person using the debit card does not receive cash as
116 part of, or independent of, any transaction for goods or
117 services.
118 5. All receipts for debit card transactions contain:
119 a. The last four digits of the debit card number.
120 b. The exact amount of the expenditure.
121 c. The name of the payee.
122 d. The signature of the campaign treasurer, deputy
123 treasurer, or authorized user, if the receipt has a signature
124 line for the campaign treasurer, deputy treasurer, or authorized
125 user to sign.
126 e. The exact purpose for which the expenditure is
127 authorized.
128
129 Any information required by this subparagraph but not included
130 on the debit card transaction receipt may be handwritten on, or
131 attached to, the receipt by the authorized user before
132 submission to the treasurer.
133 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.