Election bill heads to DeSantis’ desk clarifying ‘resign-to-run’

Published Apr. 28, 2023, 1:00 p.m. ET | Updated May. 1, 2023

Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks about "the Florida Blueprint" at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference, Camp Hill, Penn., April 1, 2023. (Photo/Team DeSantis)
Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks about "the Florida Blueprint" at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference, Camp Hill, Penn., April 1, 2023. (Photo/Team DeSantis)

Lydia Nusbaum contributed to this report.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – The Florida House passed an election overhaul bill Friday 76-34.

It addresses changes to election laws, including voter registration, public records exemptions and includes a clarification to the “resign-to-run” law.

The bill now heads to the governor’s desk.

Reps. Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, and Michelle Salzman, R-Escambia County, introduced the bill on the House floor. Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Palm Coast, carried the bill in the Senate.

“Florida has been a model of election integrity and efficiency, but there’s always room for improvement. This bill seeks to continue Florida success in these areas by streamlining certain provisions of the Florida election code, while ensuring bad actors are held accountable,” McClure explained.

The bill includes a change that exempts officeholders seeking the position of U.S. president or vice president from the state’s “resign-to-run” law. If Gov. Ron DeSantis seeks the office of president, the passing of this bill means he would not need to resign unless he wins the 2024 election and is inaugurated in 2025.

“The Senate bill settles the issue by making it abundantly clear that the ‘resign-to-run’ law does not apply to persons seeking the office of president or vice president and the bill explicitly exempts candidates running for president or vice president from the ‘resign-to-run’ law, and defines the term ‘qualify’ to mean all offices that are the President or Vice President,” Salzman explained.

Salzman said Florida is only one of five states in the union that have a ‘resign-to-run’ provision.

The bill provides mandatory formal signature matching training to supervisors of elections and county canvassing board members.

It will also require supervisors of elections to coordinate with their local clerk of court to receive updates on people convicted of felonies.

Third-party voter registration organizations help gather voter registration applications. The bill would require these organizations register for certain election cycles.

Those organizations need to also provide voters with a receipt to prove they had accepted their voter registration application.

The legislation shortens the time frame to return voter registration applications to the state from 14 to 10 days or else they face increased fines.

Those third-party voter registration groups would not be allowed to make copies of a voter’s application and personal information including a social security number or signature, or face a third degree felony.

Regarding candidate oaths, a candidate would be required to write whether they owe any outstanding fines more than $250 for any ethics violations.

The current bill said every year the supervisor of elections would conduct an annual review of voter registration records. If the supervisor has “reasonable belief” that registration records are not legal residential addresses, the supervisor can initiate list maintenance.

It also addresses a “voter guide,” which tends to include information on who to vote for. It clarifies that a person needs written permission in order to represent that a voter guide is an official publication of a political party.

Rep. Ashley Gantt, D- Miami, opposed the bill and addressed “resign-to-run” during debate.

“I think that we need to definitely make sure that we are consistent, and that we make sure that we don’t change the rules for who we like, or who we don’t like. The greater point of it all is we need to make sure that we continue to make Floridians or have Floridians have the ability to have access to the ballot,” Gantt said.

“This bill protects the Florida voter while making sure our elections remain the best in the nation,” McClure said in closing.

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