No. SB 1598
Filed under Elections.
Elections; Requiring that the Secretary of State be elected, rather than appointed, and serve a specified term; requiring the Florida Commission on Offender Review to develop and maintain a database for a specified purpose; authorizing a person who meets certain requirements to register to vote for the early voting period or election day at an early voting site or his or her polling place and cast a ballot immediately thereafter; authorizing the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to preregister certain individuals to vote; revising the information a third-party voter registration organization is required to provide to the Division of Elections of the Department of State, etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDCreates a new Florida Voting Rights Act letting voters and organizations sue local governments over election rules that suppress votes or dilute a protected class's voting power. A new commission enforces it, and winning plaintiffs get mandatory attorney fees.
Certain local governments -- those with past discrimination findings or large gaps in turnout or registration between groups -- must get the new commission's sign-off before changing election methods, polling places, or voter-roll purges. That approval does not block a later lawsuit.
Separately, the bill repeals the crime and quantity cap on collecting other voters' mail ballots, cuts a $250,000 fine ceiling on voter-registration organizations to $1,000, and removes the requirement that ballots stay open to public inspection.
It also makes the Secretary of State an elected office instead of a governor's appointee, lets eligible voters register and vote the same day at the polls, and turns most driver's license and ID transactions into an automatic voter-registration application unless declined.
AILocal governments, state agencies, and state officials may not adopt or keep an election policy that creates a material disparity in voting access for a protected class, or a method of election that dilutes that class's voting power, unless the government proves by clear and convincing evidence that the policy is necessary and no better alternative exists. Any aggrieved voter or organization may sue to enforce this after a notice period.
AILocal governments that meet criteria such as a past discrimination finding or a large turnout gap between groups must submit certain election changes, including new district lines, polling-place moves, and voter-roll purges, to the new FLVRA Commission and obtain its approval before enacting them.
AIInstead of being appointed by the Governor and serving at the Governor's pleasure, the Secretary of State will be elected at the same statewide general election as the Governor and Cabinet, and will serve a fixed four-year term.
AIA driver's license or ID card application, renewal, or address change filed with the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles automatically doubles as a voter registration or preregistration application, unless the applicant declines.
AIA person who meets the usual qualifications to vote during early voting or on election day may register at an early voting site or their assigned polling place and cast a ballot immediately afterward, instead of having to register in advance of the election.
AIA statewide database will tell people with past felony convictions whether they have met the requirements to have voting rights restored. Anyone who registers or votes in reasonable reliance on that database cannot be criminally charged with fraudulent voting or registration, even if the database turns out to be wrong.
AIThe felony that made it a crime to unlawfully distribute, collect, or possess another voter's mail ballot is repealed outright, and the two-ballot-per-election cap and photo-ID and affidavit requirements for someone picking up a ballot on a voter's behalf are also removed.
AIThe maximum yearly fine a third-party voter-registration organization can face for late or missing applications drops from $250,000 to $1,000, the requirement that its registration expire each election cycle is removed, and its felony-conviction and citizenship affirmations for canvassers are eliminated.