What does Florida’s new elections bill actually do?

ANALYSIS

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

Senate Bill 7050, which was signed into law by Governor DeSantis on May 24, is a 96-page bill that touches on many aspects of election law. It has been criticized both on the right and the left, and at least three lawsuits have already been filed, so it’s worth digging into the changes made in the bill.

Major changes

The changes are listed in detail by topic at the bottom of this article, but here is a list of the big changes:

• People who are responsible for signature verification must undergo training;
• Third-party voter registration applications must re-register every general election cycle, must provide a receipt to all applicants, must deliver the applications to officials within 10 days, cannot alter any information on the application, cannot provide a voter with a form that has any pre-filled information specific to the voter, and cannot retain information from applications;
• People who collect or handle voter registrations must be citizens and must not have been convicted of specific felonies,
• Penalties for violating third-party registration provisions can be as high as $250,000 in a calendar year, with fines of up to $5,000 per day per application for late applications, for example;
• Supervisors of Elections are required to perform voter registration list maintenance at regular intervals to identify voters whose address might have changed or records that do not use the legal residence of the voter; 
• Supervisors of Elections must remove the names of deceased voters within 7 days of receiving a death certificate, and the Department of Health must report deaths every week;
• Clerks of Court must submit a list of people who have been adjudicated mentally incapacitated or convicted of a felony every week, and other state agencies are also required to provide lists of people whose voting eligibility may have changed;
• Persons seeking the office of President or Vice President of the United States do not need to resign if they qualify as a candidate while holding another office;
• Requests for vote-by-mail ballots can only be made by a voter, a member of the voter’s immediate family, or the voter’s legal guardian;
• Vote-by-mail ballot requests must be submitted by 5 p.m. on the 12th day before an upcoming election instead of the 10th day;
• A vote-by-mail ballot received from someone who is suspected of being ineligible to vote is treated as a provisional ballot.

Objections from election integrity organizations

Election integrity activists wanted a number of changes to Florida’s election laws that did not make it into the bill and objected to some of the new provisions.

Defend Florida, which called SB 7050 a “toxic bill,” complains that the bill only allows information from governmental entities to be considered when identifying an ineligible voter, but the bill specifically states that other information can be considered as long as it relies on documents issued by a governmental entity, such as an official death certificate. Defend Florida also advocated for verification of citizenship when registering to vote; no changes were made in that area, but voting by non-citizens is illegal in Florida. 

Defend Florida objects to provisions in the law that allow official materials to be sent to any mailing address provided by the voter and advocates for mailing materials only to legal residential addresses; however, under the bill, the Supervisor is required to review all voter registration records every year to identify registration records that may not use the legal residence of the voter. This provision allows voters to provide a different mailing address but also allows Supervisors to remove voters who do not provide valid residential addresses. 

Defend Florida also advocated for an amendment to current law that would allow counties to hand-count ballots instead of being required to use “an electronic or electromechanical precinct-count tabulation voting system”; that amendment did not pass.

Florida Republican Assembly similarly complains that under the bill, “County Supervisors of Elections are forbidden to work with citizens,” but as explained above, this does not seem to be the case as long as the records provided by citizens originate from a governmental entity. The organization also disagrees with the provision that allows Governor DeSantis to run for President without resigning as Governor. 

Lawsuits

At least three lawsuits have been filed.

The first, filed by the NAACP and other organizations, argues that fining third-party voter registration organizations for late submittals, barring non-citizens and certain felons from registering voters, and criminalizing retention of voter information will harm “Black and Latinx voters.” It claims that the bill violates the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The plaintiffs also argue that “voters with disabilities as well as young and limited-English voters” will be disproportionately affected by the bill’s requirement that requests for mail-in ballots can only come from the voter or their immediate family. The case, which was filed on May 24, is assigned to Chief Judge Mark Walker.

The second, filed by the League of Women Voters of Florida, calls SB7050 a “voter suppression law” and also challenges restrictions and penalties imposed on third-party voter registration organizations. The complaint calls the restrictions “burdensome, unnecessary, and irrational” and argues that the restrictions will unconstitutionally “burden and chill” the “political speech and associational rights” of the members of third-party voter registration organizations. In a press release, the League of Women Voters called the bill “yet another assault on democracy and an attempt to muzzle Floridians.” In the release, the League of Women Voters refers to a report that founds “Floridians of color are five times more likely to register to vote through nonpartisan third-party civic engagement organizations than white Floridians.” The lawsuit, which was filed on May 24, is assigned to Chief Judge Mark Walker. 

The third lawsuit, filed by the Hispanic Federation, Poder Latinx, and four Florida residents, makes similar arguments about third-party voter registration organizations and adds, “[T]here is no compelling (or even rational) reason to exclude all noncitizens from handling and collecting voter registration applications.” The case is assigned to Judge Allen Winsor.

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Below are specific provisions in the bill by topic:

Signature matching

The bill requires that anybody who performs signature verification duties must undergo signature matching training, and the State Department must adopt rules governing the training and criteria for signature matching.

Voter registration applications

The uniform statewide voter registration application currently contains a statement informing the applicant that the application might not be delivered in less than 14 days and providing other options to the applicant to ensure on-time delivery. The law requires that wording to change to “less than 10 days.”

Third-party voter registration organizations

Beginning November 6, 2024, a third-party voter registration organization must provide the Division of Elections with notification about the specific general election cycle for which people are being registered to vote, an affirmation that anyone collecting or handling voter registrations has not been convicted of specific felonies (there is a fine of $50,000 for every person found to be a felon convicted of one of these specific crimes), and an affirmation that anyone collecting or handling voter registrations is a citizen of the U.S. (there is a fine of $50,000 for every person found to be a non-citizen). Beginning on the same date, the registration of each organization will automatically expire at the end of every general election cycle.

Third-party voter registration organizations must provide a receipt to all applicants, and the Division of Elections must adopt a uniform format for the receipt by October 1, 2023. 

Third-party voter registration organizations must deliver the voter registration to officials within 10 days of completion and “not after registration closes for the next ensuing election.” If the organization does not meet the 10-day deadline, the organization can be fined up to $2,500 per day per application; an additional fine of $2,500 can be charged if the organization “acted willfully.” If applications are submitted after registration closes for the next election, organizations can be fined $100 per day per application, up to $5,000; an additional fine of $5,000 applies if the organization “acted willfully.” If any application is not submitted at all, there is a fine of $500 per application, with an additional fine of $5,000 if the organization “acted willfully” (the maximum fine against any third-party voter registration organization failing to submit applications in a calendar year is $250,000).

If any information on the voter registration application is altered, a fine of $5,000 per application will be applied. Copying or retaining information from a voter registration application, other than to provide that information to elections officials, is now a third-degree felony. 

A third-party voter registration organization may not provide a voter with a registration form that has any information about the applicant pre-filled. The fine for violating this provision is $50 per application.

Voter information card

Voter information cards must now contain a link to the Supervisor of Elections’ website to provide the most current polling place locations. The card must also state that it is “for information purposes only” and “is not legal verification of eligibility to vote. It is the responsibility of a voter to keep his or her eligibility status current. A voter may confirm his or her eligibility to vote with the Department of State.”

Starting July 1, Supervisors of Elections must issue new voter information cards following a change of name, address, polling place address, or party affiliation.

Registration list maintenance

Supervisors of Elections are required to either send address confirmation requests to all registered voters in the county every year or use change-of-address information from the U.S. Postal Service to identify registered voters whose addresses might have changed. If a Supervisor uses the change-of-address method, the Supervisor must send address confirmation notices in odd-numbered years to all registered voters who have not voted in the two preceding general elections or any intervening election and have not requested any updates to their information in that time. If any address confirmation request is returned as undeliverable, the Supervisor must send a final address confirmation notice.

Supervisors must have an annual registration list maintenance program and must keep records of all actions associated with each voter, and the Supervisor is required to review all voter registration records every year to identify registration records that may not use the legal residence of the voter; if the Supervisor has a reasonable belief that some addresses are not legal residential addresses, the Supervisor must begin procedures for removal.

An address confirmation request is no longer required to contain a statement instructing the voter to return the form within 30 days if they have not changed their legal residence.

Deceased persons

A Supervisor is required to remove the name of a deceased voter within seven days of receiving a death certificate; the previous law just said the name must be removed “upon receipt” of the death certificate.

Every week, the Department of Health must furnish the Department of State with a list of every person over the age of 17 whose death was reported during the preceding week. This is a change from monthly reporting.

Felony convictions and mental incapacitation

Supervisors are required to coordinate with their local Clerks of the Court to identify registered voters who have been convicted of a felony during the preceding week and whose voting rights have not been restored. The Supervisor must then initiate procedures for removal.

Clerks of Court must submit a list weekly to elections officials with information about people who have been adjudicated mentally incapacitated or whose mental capacity with respect to voting has been restored; people who have responded to jury notices with a change of address; and terms of all felony sentences, including financial obligations. 

Responsibilities of other agencies

At least weekly, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement must identify people who have been convicted of a felony and who also appear in the state voter registration system. The Department of State will use lists from U.S. Attorneys to identify voters who have been convicted of federal felonies. The Florida Commission of Offender Review must provide lists of people who have been granted clemency in the preceding month. The Department of Corrections must report at least weekly on people who have been committed to its custody for a felony conviction or who have been placed on community supervision. 

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles must provide lists every week of people whose names have been removed from the Florida driver license or identification card databases because they have been issued licenses or ID cards in other states; people who have presented evidence of non-U.S. citizenship upon being issued a new or renewed license or ID card; and people who have died. 

Other reasons for ineligibility

The bill does not limit or restrict officials to any specific sources of information about the ineligibility of a voter as long as the documentation comes from a governmental entity. 

Procedures for removal

The notice sent to voters who are suspected to be ineligible must contain a statement warning them that if they attempt to vote, they will be required to vote a provisional ballot and “If you wish for your ballot to be counted, you must contact the supervisor of elections office within 2 days after the election and present evidence that you are eligible to vote.”

If the notice is returned as undeliverable, the Supervisor must publish the voter’s name in a newspaper or on the County’s or Supervisor’s website with instructions for the voter to contact the Supervisor within 30 days. The public notice must contain a statement that the voter has the right to request a hearing to determine eligibility to vote and the same statement as above about provisional ballots. 

If a registered voter fails to respond to the notice from the Supervisor, the Supervisor must make a final determination of the voter’s eligibility within seven days of the voter’s deadline to respond. If the voter is found to be ineligible, the Supervisor must remove them from the statewide voter registration system within seven days (the deadlines are new in this bill).

If the registered voter confirms that they are ineligible to vote, the Supervisor must remove them from the voter registration system “as soon as practicable.”

If the registered voter denies that they are ineligible to vote but does not request a hearing, the Supervisor has 30 days to make a determination about the voter’s eligibility and remove the name from the state voter registration system. The Supervisor must also notify the voter that they are ineligible and that they have a right to appeal the decision. If the voter requests a hearing, the Supervisor must schedule the hearing within seven days and hold it within 30 days, and the Supervisor must make a determination about the voter’s eligibility within seven days of the hearing and remove the voter from the state registration system.

Voter signatures

At least once during each general election year, before the earlier of the presidential primary or the primary election, the Supervisor must publish in a newspaper or on the Supervisor’s or County’s website a notice specifying how voters can update their signatures and how to obtain voter registration applications. Signature updates must be received before the ballot is received or before a petition is submitted for signature verification.

Reports

Supervisors must submit reconciliation reports to the Department of State within 10 days of certification of the results of an election, and they must submit an updated voting history for each voter (the deadline of 30 days after certification of the results of the election was removed from the statute). 

Supervisors must submit precinct-level election results to the Department within 10 days of certification of the results of an election. If the Department identifies any questions or issues with the results, the Supervisor must respond within 10 days of the request. The precinct-level results must be made available online within 60 days of certification of the election results.

A legislative report including voting history information for each voter must be submitted to legislative leaders within 60 days after certification of the results of an election. 

Within 10 days of the deadline to register before an election, the Department must make precinct-level statistical data available for each county.

Resign-to-run

The bill clarifies that Florida Statute 99.012, which addresses qualifying as a candidate for an office while holding another office, does not apply to persons seeking the office of President or Vice President of the United States. That section of the bill took effect when the Governor signed it, a few hours before announcing that he is running for President.

Candidates

The bill requires that any candidate must state in writing whether they owe any outstanding fines, fees, or penalties exceeding $250 for ethics violations. It also adds a provision that the candidate specifies the name to be printed on the ballot but that it must include the candidate’s legal given name, a shortened form of the candidate’s name, an initial of the candidate’s legal name, or a “bona fide nickname” by which the candidate is commonly known, followed by the candidate’s legal surname. If a candidate wishes to designate a nickname, the candidate must file an affidavit; the nickname may not be used to mislead or to imply a candidate is a different person, and it cannot constitute a political slogan “or [a nickname that] otherwise associates the candidate with a cause or an issue, or that is obscene or profane.” Candidates cannot add an educational or professional title or degree to the name designation unless they have the same or a similar name to someone else running for the same office.

Signature verification on petitions

The cost of 10 cents for every signature checked on a petition must be paid upfront if the petition is for the purpose of placing a statewide issue on the ballot. 

Publishing notices

In line with other recent changes in Florida Statutes to requirements for publishing notices, pre-existing requirements to publish notices in a newspaper of general circulation have been changed to add options for publishing those notices on the Division of Elections, County’s, or Supervisor’s websites.

Maps

The bill updates the statutes requiring Supervisors to maintain maps by requiring them to maintain a Geographical Information System. 

Precinct boundaries can no longer be visible map features such as streets, railroads, streams, or lakes or boundaries of public parks, public school grounds, or churches. Boundaries must be census block boundaries or county, municipal, or political subdivision boundaries.

Vote-by-mail ballots

Requests for vote-by-mail ballots can only be made by a voter, a member of the voter’s immediate family, or the voter’s legal guardian. If any first-class mail sent by the Supervisor to a voter is returned as undeliverable, the Supervisor must cancel any outstanding request for a vote-by-mail ballot. The voter must confirm their residential address before making another vote-by-mail ballot request. Immediate family refers to the voter’s spouse, parent, child, grandparents, grandchild, or sibling, or those relatives of the voter’s spouse. 

If a voter requests a vote-by-mail ballot and the voter’s registration record does not include their driver’s license or ID number, that number must be recorded.

Vote-by-mail ballot requests must be submitted by 5 p.m. on the 12th day before an upcoming election, and the Supervisor must mail the ballot within two business days of receiving the request but no later than the 10th day before election day. If a vote-by-mail ballot is requested during the early voting period or on election day, the voter must execute an affidavit affirming that there is an emergency causing the voter to be unable to go to a designated early voting site or to his assigned polling place on election day.

Envelopes containing a vote-by-mail ballot must be prominently marked “Do Not Forward.” Vote-by-mail ballots can be delivered directly to the voter or the voter’s designee after vote-by-mail ballots have been mailed and up to 7 p.m. on election day, but only if the voter or designee executes an affidavit affirming that there is an emergency preventing the voter from getting to an early voting site or to the polling place on election day. 

The Supervisor is required to segregate vote-by-mail ballots received from someone who has been sent a notice because they are suspected of being ineligible to vote and treat them as provisional ballots.

If two or more vote-by-mail ballots are returned in a single envelope, the ballots may not be counted.

The bill requires the Supervisor to add a statement to the instructions provided with vote-by-mail ballots to specific first-time voters, notifying the voter that “the later you return your ballot, the less time you will have to cure signature deficiencies, which is authorized until 5 p.m. local time on the 2nd day after the election.”

Submission of county returns to the Department of State

The bill changes the deadline for filing returns from 5 p.m. on the seventh day after a primary election to noon on the eighth day after the election; it also changes the deadline from noon on the twelfth day after a general election to noon on the thirteenth day.

County canvassing board

The bill adds a provision that at least two alternate canvassing board members must be appointed and states that an alternate may serve in any seat.

The duty of the canvassing board to file a report on the conduct of the election with the Division of Elections has been transferred to the Supervisor, with a deadline of 20 business days after the election is certified. A list of vote-by-mail ballot mailing errors has been added to the existing required elements of the report.

The Department of State is now required to submit the analysis of these reports, including possible solutions and training to problems that were identified, to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by February 15 of each year following a general election.

Presidential electors

The deadline for the state executive committee of each political party to recommend presidential electors to the Governor and for the Governor to certify the electors is changed from September 1 to August 24; the state executive committee is now required to submit the Florida voter registration number and contact information for each presidential elector; the presidential electors must now be qualified registered voters of Florida and members of the party who have taken a written oath to vote for the candidates of the party they represent.

Write-in candidates must also submit voter registration numbers and contact information for their presidential electors, who must also be registered voters in Florida.

If a presidential elector refuses or fails to vote for the candidates selected by the party, the law specifies that this action “constitutes his or her resignation of the position.” The position will be filled as any other vacancy is filled, by gubernatorial appointment.

Political parties

Political parties may now accept and hold qualifying papers from people running for party offices in the 14 days before the qualifying period begins.

Voting a fraudulent ballot

The law specifies that someone who has been sent notice that they are suspected of being ineligible to vote and who votes a provisional ballot or vote-by-mail ballot before final determination of their eligibility is made cannot be charged with voting a fraudulent ballot.

Casting more than one ballot at any election

If a person casts more than one ballot at any election (either in the same county, in different counties, or in different states), the case may be prosecuted in any jurisdiction in which one of the ballots was willfully cast, and it is not necessary to prove which ballot was cast first. 

Investigation of fraudulent voting

The bill authorizes Supervisors to investigate fraudulent registrations and illegal voting and to report findings to the local state attorney and the Office of Election Crimes and Security (this is a change from the previous authorization to report findings to the Florida Elections Commission).

Campaign financial reports

Some changes were made in the timing of required campaign financial reports, and local governmental entities are prohibited from adopting a different reporting schedule.

Fines for violations of campaign finance laws may be multiplied by a factor of 3, beginning with the fourth offense, and a fine imposed against a political committee becomes the responsibility of the chair of the committee if the committee does not pay the fine within 30 days. 

Voter guides

Voter guides, defined as direct mail sent for the purpose of advocating for or endorsing particular issues or candidates, may not claim to be an official publication of a political party unless the person sending out the voter guide has written permission from the party. A voter guide circulated before or on the day of an election must have a font size of at least 12 points, must display a disclaimer, and must be marked as a “Voter Guide.”

Digital imaged licenses

Reproductions of digital images and signatures will be made available to Supervisors “to facilitate determinations of eligibility of voter registration applicants and registered voters.”