11-00760B-24 20241752__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to elections; amending s. 101.5605, 3 F.S.; prohibiting the Department of State from 4 approving certain voting systems; amending s. 5 101.5607, F.S.; requiring the department to make 6 certain information and materials available to the 7 public on its website within a certain timeframe; 8 deleting a provision specifying applicability of a 9 public records exemption to certain software on file 10 with the department; creating s. 101.592, F.S.; 11 requiring the county canvassing board to conduct a 12 manual count in certain precincts before certification 13 of certain elections; providing for the random 14 selection of precincts subject to the manual count by 15 the Secretary of State; requiring the Secretary of 16 State to inform the county canvassing board of the 17 randomly selected precincts in advance of the 18 election; prohibiting the disclosure of the randomly 19 selected precincts before election day; specifying 20 requirements for the manual count; requiring specified 21 public access and notice to the manual count; 22 specifying applicable procedures for the manual count; 23 providing duties of the county canvassing board in 24 conducting the manual count; requiring the Secretary 25 of State to order a countywide manual recount if 26 certain conditions are met; providing applicability; 27 authorizing the Secretary of State to make certain 28 referrals to the Office of Election Crimes and 29 Security for investigation; amending s. 101.62, F.S.; 30 providing limitations on a voter’s eligibility for 31 requesting a vote-by-mail ballot; providing that a 32 vote-by-mail ballot request is limited to a single 33 election; requiring a person making a vote-by-mail 34 ballot request to disclose the absent voter’s basis 35 for voting by mail; conforming provisions to changes 36 made by the act; amending s. 101.64, F.S.; revising 37 the voter’s certificate on the vote-by-mail mailing 38 envelope to conform to changes made by the act; 39 amending s. 101.65, F.S.; revising instructions to 40 absent electors to conform to changes made by the act; 41 amending s. 101.657, F.S.; revising the timeframe 42 during which early voting must be provided by the 43 supervisor of elections; amending s. 101.662, F.S.; 44 conforming provisions to changes made by the act; 45 amending s. 101.69, F.S.; deleting authorization for 46 the placement of secure ballot intake stations at 47 early voting sites and sites that would otherwise 48 qualify as an early voting site; conforming provisions 49 to changes made by the act; amending s. 101.6921, 50 F.S.; revising the voter’s certificate on the mailing 51 envelope of special vote-by-mail ballots to certain 52 first-time voters to conform to changes made by the 53 act; amending ss. 101.6103 and 101.694, F.S.; 54 conforming cross-references; rescinding vote-by-mail 55 ballot requests for certain elections as of a 56 specified date; requiring a supervisor of elections to 57 provide certain notice to voters with pending vote-by 58 mail ballot requests; specifying requirements for such 59 notice; providing applicability; requiring the 60 department to initiate emergency rulemaking for a 61 specified purpose within a certain timeframe; 62 specifying the duration of any emergency rules 63 adopted; providing an effective date. 64 65 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 66 67 Section 1. Subsection (5) is added to section 101.5605, 68 Florida Statutes, to read: 69 101.5605 Examination and approval of equipment.— 70 (5) The Department of State may not approve any voting 71 system that: 72 (a) Incorporates hardware or software designed, produced, 73 owned, or licensed by an entity that is owned, operated, or 74 majority-controlled by a company outside of the United States or 75 a domestic company registered in another country, including a 76 domesticated foreign corporation, or by a person who is not a 77 United States citizen; 78 (b) Is produced, in whole or in part, including software, 79 hardware, tabulating equipment, printers, and any other 80 accessories, in a foreign country; or 81 (c) Uses software that is not open-source and not available 82 for inspection by the public. 83 Section 2. Section 101.5607, Florida Statutes, is amended 84 to read: 85 101.5607 Department of State to maintain voting system 86 information; prepare software.— 87 (1)(a) Copies of the program codes and the user and 88 operator manuals and copies of all software and any other 89 information, specifications, or documentation required by the 90 Department of State relating to an approved electronic or 91 electromechanical voting system and its equipment must be filed 92 with the Department of State by the supervisor of elections at 93 the time of purchase or implementation. Any such information or 94 materials that are not on file with and approved by the 95 Department of State, including any updated or modified 96 materials, may not be used in an election. Such information and 97 materials must be made available to the public on the Department 98 of State’s website at least 3 months before an election in which 99 it will be used. 100 (b) Within 24 hours after the completion of any logic and 101 accuracy test conducted pursuant to s. 101.5612, the supervisor 102 of elections shall send by certified mail to the Department of 103 State a copy of the tabulation program which was used in the 104 logic and accuracy testing. 105 (c) The Department of State may, at any time, review the 106 voting system of any county to ensure compliance with the 107 Electronic Voting Systems Act. 108 (d) Section 119.071(1)(f) applies to all software on file 109 with the Department of State. 110 (2)(a) The Department of State may develop software for use 111 with an electronic or electromechanical voting system. The 112 standards and examination procedures developed for software 113 apply to all software developed by the Department of State. 114 (b) Software prepared, and software filed with the 115 Department of State pursuant to paragraph (1)(a), by the 116 Department of State is a public record pursuant to chapter 119 117 and shall be provided at the actual cost of duplication. 118 Section 3. Section 101.592, Florida Statutes, is created to 119 read: 120 101.592 Manual count.— 121 (1)(a) Before the county canvassing board certifies the 122 results of an election with state or federal races, the county 123 canvassing board shall conduct a manual count of the votes of 124 two precincts per county which are randomly selected by the 125 Secretary of State. The Secretary of State shall inform the 126 county canvassing board of the randomly selected precincts at 127 least 15 days before the election. 128 (b) The precincts randomly selected by the Secretary of 129 State may not be publicly announced before the close of polls on 130 election day. 131 (2)(a) A manual count consists of a count of all election 132 day marksense ballots or of digital images of those ballots by 133 an individual. A manual count must include a tally of the 134 election day votes cast across every race and ballot measure 135 that appear on the ballot in each of the two precincts randomly 136 selected by the Secretary of State. 137 (b) The manual count must be open to the public, and the 138 county canvassing board shall post a notice of the manual count, 139 including the date, time, and place of such count, in four 140 conspicuous places in the county and on the homepage of the 141 supervisor of election’s website. 142 (3) A vote for a candidate or ballot measure must be 143 counted if there is a clear indication on the ballot that the 144 voter has made a definite choice consistent with the parameters 145 set forth in s. 102.166(4) and the specific rules adopted by the 146 department pursuant to that section. 147 (4) Procedures for a manual count must adhere to the 148 procedures set forth in s. 102.166(5) and the rules adopted by 149 the department pursuant to that section. 150 (5)(a) The canvassing board for each county must compare 151 the results of the manual count in each randomly selected 152 precinct to the precinct vote totals provided for in s. 102.071. 153 The results of the manual count must be reported to the 154 Secretary of State no later than noon on the third day after any 155 primary election and no later than noon on the fifth day after 156 any general or other election. 157 (b) If the difference in the vote counts between the manual 158 count and the precinct vote total provided for in s. 102.071 for 159 a race or ballot measure is enough to change the outcome of a 160 race or ballot measure when extrapolated across all precincts 161 where the race or ballot measure appeared on the ballot, the 162 Secretary of State must order a countywide manual recount of all 163 election-day, vote-by-mail, early voting, provisional, and 164 overseas ballots cast in the county for the race or ballot 165 measure. The results of the manual recount must be the certified 166 election results. This paragraph does not apply to a race or 167 ballot measure where the Secretary of State, county canvassing 168 board, or the local board responsible for certifying the 169 election is required to order a recount pursuant to s. 102.141. 170 (6) Upon receipt of the results of a county’s manual count, 171 the Secretary of State may refer any suspected irregularities or 172 violations of law associated with the voting systems and 173 election procedures in a county to the Office of Election Crimes 174 and Security for further investigation. 175 Section 4. Section 101.62, Florida Statutes, is amended to 176 read: 177 101.62 Request for vote-by-mail ballots.— 178 (1) ELIGIBILITY.— 179 (a) A qualified absent voter may vote by mail if, on 180 election day and during early in-person voting, the absent voter 181 expects to be: 182 1. Absent from the county of his or her residence; 183 2. Unable to appear personally at the early voting site or 184 polling place of the precinct in which he or she is a qualified 185 voter because of illness or physical disability or duties 186 related to the primary care of one or more individuals who are 187 ill or physically disabled, or because he or she will be or is a 188 patient in a hospital; 189 3. A resident or patient of a United States Department of 190 Veterans Affairs medical facility; or 191 4. Absent from his or her legal residence because he or she 192 is confined in jail, provided that he or she is qualified to 193 vote in the precinct of his or her residence. 194 (b) The eligibility requirements to vote by mail set forth 195 in paragraph (a) do not apply to voters entitled to vote by mail 196 under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. 197 (2) REQUEST.— 198 (a) The supervisor shall accept a request for a vote-by 199 mail ballot only from an absent a voter or, if directly 200 instructed by the absent voter, a member of the absent voter’s 201 immediate family or the absent voter’s legal guardian. A request 202 may be made in person, in writing, by telephone, or through the 203 supervisor’s website. The department shall prescribe by rule by 204 October 1, 2023, a uniform statewide application to make a 205 written request for a vote-by-mail ballot which includes fields 206 for all information required in this subsection. An absent voter 207 must submit a separate request for a vote-by-mail ballot for 208 each election. For purposes of this requirement, a primary 209 election and the subsequent general election are separate 210 elections One request is deemed sufficient to receive a vote-by 211 mail ballot for all elections through the end of the calendar 212 year of the next regularly scheduled general election, unless 213 the voter or the voter’s designee indicates at the time the 214 request is made the elections within such period for which the 215 voter desires to receive a vote-by-mail ballot. The supervisor 216 must cancel a request for a vote-by-mail ballot when any first 217 class mail or nonforwardable mail sent by the supervisor to the 218 voter is returned as undeliverable. If the absent voter requests 219 a vote-by-mail ballot thereafter, the absent voter must provide 220 or confirm his or her current residential address. 221 (b) The supervisor may accept a request for a vote-by-mail 222 ballot to be mailed to an absent a voter’s address on file in 223 the Florida Voter Registration System from the absent voter, or, 224 if directly instructed by the absent voter, a member of the 225 absent voter’s immediate family or the absent voter’s legal 226 guardian. If an in-person or a telephonic request is made, the 227 voter must provide the absent voter’s Florida driver license 228 number, the absent voter’s Florida identification card number, 229 or the last four digits of the absent voter’s social security 230 number, whichever may be verified in the supervisor’s records, 231 and the absent voter’s basis for voting by mail. If the ballot 232 is requested to be mailed to an address other than the absent 233 voter’s address on file in the Florida Voter Registration 234 System, the request must be made in writing. A written request 235 must be signed by the absent voter and include the absent 236 voter’s Florida driver license number, the absent voter’s 237 Florida identification card number, or the last four digits of 238 the absent voter’s social security number, and the absent 239 voter’s basis for voting by mail. However, an absent uniformed 240 services voter or an overseas voter seeking a vote-by-mail 241 ballot is not required to submit a signed, written request for a 242 vote-by-mail ballot that is being mailed to an address other 243 than the absent voter’s address on file in the Florida Voter 244 Registration System. The person making the request must 245 disclose: 246 1. The name of the absent voter for whom the ballot is 247 requested. 248 2. The absent voter’s address. 249 3. The absent voter’s date of birth. 250 4. The absent voter’s Florida driver license number, the 251 absent voter’s Florida identification card number, or the last 252 four digits of the absent voter’s social security number, 253 whichever may be verified in the supervisor’s records. If the 254 absent voter’s registration record does not already include the 255 absent voter’s Florida driver license number or Florida 256 identification card number or the last four digits of the absent 257 voter’s social security number, the number provided must be 258 recorded in the absent voter’s registration record. 259 5. The absent voter’s basis for voting by mail. 260 6. The requester’s name. 261 7.6. The requester’s address. 262 8.7. The requester’s driver license number, the requester’s 263 identification card number, or the last four digits of the 264 requester’s social security number, if available. 265 9.8. The requester’s relationship to the absent voter. 266 10.9. The requester’s signature (written requests only). 267 (c) Upon receiving a request for a vote-by-mail ballot from 268 an absent voter, the supervisor of elections shall notify the 269 voter of the free access system that has been designated by the 270 department for determining the status of his or her vote-by-mail 271 ballot. 272 (d) For purposes of this section, the term “immediate 273 family” refers to the following, as applicable: 274 1. The absent voter’s spouse, parent, child, grandparent, 275 grandchild, or sibling, or the parent, child, grandparent, 276 grandchild, or sibling of the absent voter’s spouse. 277 2. The designee’s spouse, parent, child, grandparent, 278 grandchild, or sibling, or the parent, child, grandparent, 279 grandchild, or sibling of the designee’s spouse. 280 (3)(2) ACCESS TO VOTE-BY-MAIL REQUEST INFORMATION.—For each 281 request for a vote-by-mail ballot received, the supervisor shall 282 record the following information: the date the request was made; 283 the identity of the absent voter’s designee making the request, 284 if any; the Florida driver license number, Florida 285 identification card number, or last four digits of the social