Florida Senate - 2024 SB 1752



By Senator Ingoglia





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;