Senate approves election overhaul bill with ‘resign-to-run’ change
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – The Florida Senate approved an election overhaul bill Wednesday 28-12, which included a clarification to the “resign-to-run” law.
The change would exempt officeholders seeking the position of U.S. president or vice president from the state’s “resign-to-run” law.
The amendment was filed Tuesday afternoon by Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Palm Coast, who also co-introduced the legislation. Florida’s existing law governing whether a state “officer” must resign is defined under Florida Statute Section 99.012.
The bill also deals with areas including third-party voter registration organizations, voter guides and candidate oaths.
Bill sponsor Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, had previously said the bill would provide “safeguards” for voters through the additional rules for third-party voter registration organizations.
“From a laughing stock to a gold standard, that’s what we’ve done with our elections in this state,” Burgess said on the Senate floor. “Senators, let’s keep up the good work.”
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. Burgess called the change in committee “reasonable” and a “critically important” way to make sure the applications get into the right hands.
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 bill provides mandatory formal signature matching training to supervisors of elections and county canvassing board members.
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.
Sen. Tracie Davis, R-Jacksonville, worked with the Supervisors of Elections Office in Duval County.
“There are a lot of things in this bill that are unfair, starting with the fact that it is unfair to require supervisors of elections that you’re not telling them how to implement,” Davis said. “It’s unfair to add excessive fines to voter registration groups and then require them to have some type of receipt and then tell the Department of State you’ve got to figure it out in rule making.”
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.
