Florida Senate - 2024 SB 724



By Senator Davis





5-00846-24 2024724__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to candidate qualifying; creating s.
3 99.013, F.S.; providing eligibility requirements for
4 persons seeking to qualify for nomination as a
5 candidate of a political party or as a candidate with
6 no party affiliation; providing that certain entities
7 may bring an action for declaratory and injunctive
8 relief based on a certain claim; prohibiting a person
9 from qualifying as a candidate for election and from
10 having his or her name appear on the ballot under
11 certain circumstances; providing an effective date.
12
13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15 Section 1. Section 99.013, Florida Statutes, is created to
16 read:
17 99.013 Eligibility to qualify for nomination as a candidate
18 of a political party or candidate with no party affiliation.—
19 (1)(a) A person seeking to qualify for nomination as a
20 candidate of a political party must have been a registered
21 member of the political party for which the person is seeking
22 nomination as a candidate for at least 365 days before the
23 beginning of qualifying preceding the general election for which
24 the person seeks to qualify.
25 (b) A person seeking to qualify for nomination as a
26 candidate with no party affiliation must be registered without
27 any party affiliation and may not have been a registered member
28 of any political party for at least 365 days before the
29 beginning of qualifying preceding the general election for which
30 the person seeks to qualify.
31 (2) A political party, in addition to any other person or
32 entity with standing, may bring an action for declaratory and
33 injunctive relief based on a claim that a person seeking to
34 qualify for nomination as a candidate of such political party or
35 as a candidate with no party affiliation did not comply with
36 this section.
37 (3) If a final judgment of a circuit court determines that
38 a person did not comply with this section, the person may not be
39 qualified as a candidate for election and his or her name may
40 not appear on the ballot.
41 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.