No. HB 73
Filed under Elections.
Restoration of Rights Voting Database; Requires Florida Commission on Offender Review to develop & maintain database containing certain information for certain purpose; requires certain governmental entities to provide certain information to commission; requires DMS, acting through Florida Digital Service, to provide certain technical assistance to commission; requires commission to make available to public database on Internet website by date certain; requires commission to update database monthly & publish certain information on website; requires commission to provide to Governor & Legislature comprehensive plan by date certain; provides requirements for comprehensive plan; provides that person who takes certain actions in reasonable reliance on database may not be charged with certain violations of criminal law.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDThe state must build a public, monthly-updated database tracking whether people with certain felony convictions have met the requirements to get their voting rights back, including outstanding fines, fees, restitution, and supervision terms.
Anyone who registers or votes because the database told them their rights were restored gets legal protection: they cannot be charged with fraudulent voting or registration, even if the database turns out to be wrong.
The database excludes people convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense, since Florida's Constitution treats their restoration differently. State and county officials must feed the commission monthly updates, and the commission must submit a costed plan to state leaders by mid-2027.
The public-facing database itself is not required until July 1, 2029, three years after this law takes effect, though the commission must start collecting data and reporting a plan well before then.
AIA person who registers or votes because the database indicated their voting rights were restored has an affirmative right to do so and cannot be criminally charged over it, even if that turns out to be wrong.
AIThe Florida Commission on Offender Review must create and maintain a database, for people disqualified from voting by a felony other than murder or a felony sexual offense, tracking what they still owe or must complete to regain the vote.
AIThe commission must publish the database on a public website by July 1, 2029, update it monthly, and post clear instructions for how to get voting rights restored and register to vote.
AIThe Department of State, Department of Corrections, clerks of the circuit courts, county comptrollers, and the Board of Executive Clemency must each send the commission, every month, any information they hold that the database needs.
AIBy July 1, 2027, the commission must send the Governor and legislative leaders a plan covering data-collection methods, needed infrastructure and staffing, projected costs, and proposed legislation to carry it out.
AIThe Department of Management Services, through the Florida Digital Service, must provide whatever technical assistance the commission needs to build and run the database, and may adopt rules to do so.